Mr PK Misra secretary with the Indian ministry of steel during an event to mark National Metallurgists' Day at Hyderabad said that Indian Steel industry is expected to reach a production level of 113 million tonnes by the end of the 12th Five-Year Plan, but it needs some policy corrections to ramp it up further.

He said “The working group on Steel Industry for the 12th Five year plan has estimated that India's steel demand is likely to grow 10.3% per annum, and will reach a level of 113 million tonnes by the terminal year (2016-17) of the 12th plan.”

He said that these expectations are based on the likely annual growth of 9% in GDP.

He said “The proposed investment of around USD 1 trillion in infrastructure in the 12th plan and the efforts to increase the share of manufacturing sector from 15% to 25% of GDP by 2020, would lead to high demand of steel.”

But he cautioned that there is an urgent need to make some policy corrections and adjustments to increase the crude steel production. He said “The steel ministry is of the view that steel companies must take up R&D as an important agenda and for this, ministry had brought out a roadmap on R&D and technology.”

Mr Misra said “The Indian steel industry is facing challenging times. We are firm that India has a future in steel and has miles to go before it can match the infrastructure, life styles and per capita consumption of steel in the developed world and the newly industrialized economies of Asia.”

(Sourced from PTI)