India turned net exporter of steel this year and the trend is expected to continue as the metal's quality has become globally competitive, according to Indian Steel Association.
This is the beginning for India towards becoming a global player, the association said.
The country is no doubt on the right path. "It is already a net exporter. This will give strength to domestic production so that the entire production may not be intended for domestic consumption and some positive development needs to move further," the association added.
"From September 2014 till end of September 2016 huge imports came to India, and since about beginning of this year, it shows the trend of becoming a net exporter," Sanak Mishra, Secretary General and Executive Head, Indian Steel Association (ISA) told PTI in an interview.
On account of measures taken by the government, the imports fell last fiscal year ending March, and from beginning of the new calender year itself, the exports were larger than the imports, he said.
According to official figures, production of total finished steel stood at 101.274 MT in April-March 2016-17.
Steel export was up by 102.1 per cent in April-March 2016-17 (8.244 MT) over same period of last year.
Meanwhile, steel import was at 7.427 MT in April-March 2016-17, a decline of 36.6 per cent over same period of previous year.
The ISA expects this trend will continue as the Indian steel is competitive in the global market in terms of quality and delivery, Mishra said.
"(There) is new technology, equipment, automation and process control. So, India is in position to compete for exports. Secondly, in an ideal situation export should be at least as much as you import. We have crossed that at the moment, our exports are larger than imports but the fact is that this quantity is not very large.