The Indian steel industry is set to see its production capacity expand by about 10 million tonnes to 93 million tonnes by the end of the current fiscal.

This capacity addition is led by companies such as Tata Steel, Essar, Bhushan Steel, Monnet Ispat and Visa Steel, which are in the process of expanding their operations, the Steel Secretary, Mr P.K. Misra, said. He was speaking to reporters after the quarterly review of SAIL's first quarter performance by the Steel Minister, Mr Beni Prasad Verma.

Tata Steel expects to add 3.1 mtpa to its existing capacity of 6.8 mtpa in the current financial year, while Monnet plans to commission its 1.5 mtpa plant in Raigarh by this December.

Mr Misra said despite the sluggish pace of steel consumption in the April-August period, he was hopeful of a demand pick-up in the main season starting October. “We expect the demand to grow at 10 per cent for the rest of the financial year,” Mr Misra said. Steel consumption had slowed down due to the weak demand from sectors such as auto and white goods because of high interest rates.

The Steel Minister released the next 100 days' agenda, which aims at finalising recommendations of Working Group on Steel for 12th Five-Year Plan (2012-17). It also comprises points such as issue of policy paper in R&D intervention in Indian Steel Industry, constitution of project review committee for monitoring R&D projects and reissue of quality control orders for steel products.

The agenda also enumerates documents to be released in the next 100 days by the Joint Plant Committee such as study on steel demand, draft report on survey of ferro-alloys, study of viability of beneficiation and use of low grade ore for steel making in India.

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