A holistic approach is needed for India to take a quantum leap in steel production in next 10 years, opined honchos of steel industry gathered at an international conference on "Emerging Technologies & Challenges in Iron Making" at Ranchi.
With an annual steel production of 80 mt (million tones), India currently ranks fourth in terms of steel production in the world dominated by China with an annual production of more than 700 mt.
"Dynamics have changed over the years," CS Verma CMD SAIl said, adding "China has added a significant amount to the steel production over the years and now controls more than 40 per cent of world’s
steel output." India has set a target of around 300 mt of steel production by 2025 which would require alignment of external factors such as availability of capital, raw materials and demand with internal factors like technology. "We need at least 15 mt of coal, annual investment of around US $ 20 billion and plant and machinery," maintained Verma.
Verma emphasised the role of "dedicated financial institutions" in the capital intensive business where "increase in demand is a pre-requisite for increasing production."
"We also need to find ways to increase demand," added Verma. The conference was attended by CMD MECON KK Mehrotra, MD Adhunik Group, Manoj Kumar Agrawal and other senior officials of MECON, Adhunik Group.