Steel Secretary Aruna Sharma stated that government’s National Steel Policy has saved foreign exchange of Rs 5,000 crores since last year and has added around 24 million tonnes of crude steel capacity during the last four years. The Secretary added that in this year India also replaced Japan as the second largest steel producer.
Sharma also said that the national steel policy announced last year had the target set at raising the capacity 300 MT by 2030 and produce 250 MT of crude steel.
The steel production capacity has been steadily rising under the Modi Government. It increased from 110 MT in 2014-15 to 134 MT in 2017-18, while 7 MT was added in 2017 alone, Sharma pointed out in an interview on achievements and initiatives taken by Ministry Of Steel in past four years.
While talking about steel exports, she stated that in the financial year 2017, India became a net exporter of steel with a significant export of 8.2 MT registering 102 percent growth over the previous fiscal year. The exports grew from 5.6 MT in the financial Year 2015 to 9.6 MT in Financial Year 2018. On the other hand, import has been declining. Between the Financial Year of 2016 to 2018, imports have declined by 36%.
Steel Authority of India Ltd turned profitable under the new government. The Prime Minister inaugurated a steel processing unit of SAIL in Kandori, Himachal Pradesh in October 2017 which adds to the steel production capabilities of the country. This unit will produce high-end special steel TMT bars.
The National Steel Policy aims to increase the per capita steel consumption to 1600 kg by 2030. The Secretary also stated that the new policy envisages decreasing India’s dependence on imports for coking coal. The policy aims to increase domestic availability of washed coking coal to decrease import dependence from 85% to 65%.