Struggling to remain afloat amid inadequate raw material supplies, high power and transportation costs and inadequate access to finance, India’s secondary steel producers are ceding their share in the country’s steel production. Their share in domestic steel output was 55% in 2015; in FY22, they produced just 40% of the country’s overall steel production of around 140 million tonne (mt).

Recognizing the importance of their role in the ambitious capacity-expansion target — 300 mtpa in 2030-31 and 500 mtpa India’s 100th year of Independence in 2047 — the government is now formulating a policy meant exclusively for them. Its broad contours are drawn by the steel ministry.