Growth In Steel Usage Should Benefit Domestic Industry
At a time when the US and China are in the middle of a global trade war, Binoy Kumar, Secretary, Ministry of Steel, talks to Sumant Banerji about plans to encourage companies to Make in India and how India can protect its steel industry. Edited excerpts:
Growth in India's steel consumption is getting a lot of attention these days. Is the industry prepared to meet the demand?
A: India's demand for steel is growing at over 7 per cent. To cater to that, the industry is expanding both capacity and production. We are a low steel consuming country. Our consumption is 69 72 kg per capita. It is way behind the world average of 214 kg. Some advanced countries are at 1,100 kg. Our primary task is to meet this demand and for that the industry has to grow.
The National Steel Policy 2017 set a production target of 300 million tonnes by 2030/31. We have always missed targets.
There is no target in the policy. It is not even an aspiration. It is a blueprint for meeting demand. If demand is rising
