The country's steel imports are set to soar to 50 million tonnes by 2020, according to an official at Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL). At present, imports stand at 6 million tonnes (mt).

Strong demand

Mr V.R. Sharma, Deputy Managing Director and CEO of Steel Business at JSPL, said that India would have to resort to higher imports as domestic capacity expansion slows down hurt by regulatory, environment and land acquisition issues.

“Steel imports may be 40-50 mt by 2020 as demand is likely to go up to 200 mt, while the domestic production would stand at 150 mt,” Mr Sharma told a seminar on ‘Indian Steel at the Crossroads'. The Government had envisaged a capacity addition of 200 mt by 2020, but it is unlikely to happen. “India will become a net importer by 2020. The shortfall in production is due to the delays in land acquisition for new plants,” Mr Sharma said.

Large investments like that of Posco and Arcelor Mittal are delayed due to land acquisition and other regulatory issues in the country.

The current installed capacity is around 90 mt, while the production of crude steel is estimated at 70 mt.

The domestic consumption of steel stood at 72 mt. The country imported around 6 mt last year, but also exported around a similar quantity.

Jindal Steel is expanding its capacity from the current 4 mt to around 18 mt by 2016-17, Mr Sharma said. The company expects to commission its three-mt plant at Angul in Odisha later this year.

Reorient growth strategy

Mr Sanak Mishra, CEO of Greenfield Projects at ArcelorMittal India, said that the steel demand is likely to go up to 90.6 mt by 2015-16.

Dr A.S. Feroz, Chief Economist at the Joint Plant Committee, said that the Indian steel industry needs to reorient its growth strategy as it faced challenges relating to land acquisition and on the availability of raw materials such as iron ore and coking coal.

>vishwa@thehindu.co.in

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