- India’s Steel Sector Goals:Â
- India targets 500 million tonnes of steel production by 2034, driven by domestic resources, infrastructure growth, and sectors like railways and automotive.
- Challenges Facing the Sector:
- Â High capital costs, costly logistics, limited coking coal reserves, low per capita consumption, energy intensity, and export challenges due to carbon taxes are key hurdles for the Indian steel industry.
- Government Initiatives:Â
- Policies like the National Steel Policy 2017 and the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for specialty steel aim to boost production, support infrastructure projects, and reduce reliance on imports. The “Make in India” initiative encourages domestic steel use across major sectors.
- Economic and Strategic Significance:
-  Steel production contributes 2% to India’s GDP, and is vital for infrastructure and employment, with a high employment multiplier effect of 6.8x.
- Decarbonization Efforts:
- Â Policies like the Perform, Achieve, and Trade (PAT) scheme, and Steel Scrap Recycling Policy 2019 encourage energy efficiency and recycling. Investments in green technology and reduced CO2 emissions per tonne are ongoing efforts.
- Way Forward:
-  Enhancing cleaner technology, promoting Industry 4.0 for productivity, diversifying products, and creating advanced alloys are essential to help India’s steel sector meet domestic and international standards and decarbonization goals.
