Infrastructure, growth in automotive sector, and increased urbanisation are expected to push demand for steel.
“India, as an emerging economy, is on a growth trajectory and is expected to witness significant increase in steel demand,” said a release from Steel Ministry on the eve of 27th Steel Consumers’ Council meeting in Bengaluru.
Low consumption
Though India is on the way to emerge as the second largest steel producer in the world, the domestic steel consumption remains at about 68 kg per capita, which is much below the global average of 208 kg.
The National Steel Policy 2017 projects that India is expected to reach steelmaking capacity 300 MTPA by 2030-31. in this regard the Ministry of Steel is striving to boost per capita steel consumption by promoting various usages, where steel would definitely be superior to other alternate material, besides various policy interventions such as amendment to GFR.
“It may also be mentioned here that the implementation of the Policy for Preference to Domestically Manufactured Iron & Steel Products (DMI&SP) in government procurements, is going to increase the consumption of domestic steel,” the ministry relese said.
Consumers’ meet
The ministry is holding its 27th Meeting of the National Steel Consumers’ Council under the Chairmanship of Union Minister for Steel, Chaudhary Birender Singh, at Bengaluru on June 29 (Friday).
The meet’s theme is ‘Demand Drivers for Growth of the Indian Steel Sector’ and is third such meeting being held during the tenure of the NDA Government at the Centre. The earlier two meetings were held at Mumbai and Bhubaneswar had covered the Western and the Eastern Regions of the country.
Steel Consumer Council Meetings are held to understand the sentiments of the market, by having a close interaction with the steel consumers and related associations on various aspects such as supply, availability, quality and market trends.