New Delhi, Aug 23 (Agency) Stating that India has moved from being the net importer of steel to a net exporter of steel, Union Minister for Civil Aviation and Steel Jyotiraditya Scindia on Tuesday said that steel production in the country is expected to grow to 300 million tonnes by 2030. Addressing an event organised by industry body Ficci, Scindia said that India is not only an exporting nation but also a strong consuming nation and hoped that the country’s per capita steel consumption would grow and reach the current world average of 225kg by 2047. “If you look at per capita consumption of steel, from a low of 57.8 kgs in 2013-14, against the global average of 225 kgs, in just eight years we have increased by 50% to 78 kgs per person,” the Minister said adding that the per capita consumption would triple and attain the world average of 225 kgs by 2047.
Scindia stated that from a production capacity capability of close to 102 million tones, the capacity has now increased to about 154 million tonnes. “On a production level basis, assuming a capacity utilisation of 80% from a base of 80 million tonnes production in 2013-14 we are today producing 121 million tonnes, again a jump of 50%. And, so, across all four parameters, the Indian steel industry has not only set a firm footing but today we have moved from being the fourth largest producer of steel in the world to, ladies and gentlemen, becoming the second largest producer of steel in the world,” the Minister told the audience at the conference on Indian Minerals & Metals Industry.. “I am very confident that even though the Number 1 nation is far beyond us in terms of the producer of steel, there will come a day when India will become the Number 1 producer of steel in the world, in the days to come,” he added.