India's crude steel output is expected to soar about 18 per cent to 120 million tonnes (MT) by the end of the ongoing financial year, Minister of State (MoS) for Steel Faggan Singh Kulaste said.
The demand is expected to cross 100 MT during the current financial year, he said.
According to official data, the country produced around 102 MT steel in the financial year 2020-21, registering a fall of 6.1 per cent over FY20, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown necessitated to contain its spread.
"India's production of crude steel was at 37.527 MT, a growth of 44.6 per cent, in April-July 2021. This gives me confidence that we will produce around 115 MT-120 MT in FY 2021-22," Kulaste told PTI sharing his estimates for the current financial year.
Under the National Steel Policy (NSP) 2017, the government has set a production target of 300 MT by 2030-31.
Replying to another question related to steel consumption, the minister said it will be more than 100 MT in the current financial year 2021-22.
In the financial year ended March 2021, steel consumption stood at 93.43 MT, lower by 6.7 per cent over the previous year due to the impact of the pandemic.
Kulaste said the government has announced a Rs 100-crore national infrastructure pipeline (NIP). Under the plan, various projects will be implemented across the country where steel will be used in huge quantities.
Mega infrastructure projects, such as Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, Bharatmala, Sagarmala and Dedicated Freight Corridors, are already underway which will boost the demand for steel in the country.
He further said the government has also taken various measures to promote locally manufactured steel and reduce the country's dependence on imports for sourcing raw materials.
The Domestically Manufactured Iron & Steel Products (DMI&SP) policy, approved earlier, mandates to provide preference to domestically manufactured iron and steel products in government procurement.
The steel scrap recycling policy, which has been notified, aims to secure raw material availability to IF/EAF (induction furnace/electric arc furnace). This will also reduce imports of scrap which is currently seven million tonnes, out of the total demand of 22-25 million tonnes.