India’s steel consumption exceeds steel production by 3pc in December. Steel production rose to 9.32mn mt in December, up by 1.08pc from a year ago, while consumption rose by 11.91pc to 9.68mn mt amid robust recovery in domestic manufacturing.
In December, total finished steel (non-alloy, alloy/stainless) production improved by 4.72pc from November and consumption rose by
6.61pc, according to data shared by the Union Minister for Steel Dharmendra Pradhan in the Indian parliament.
The minister stated the budget for FY2021-22 will usher increased demand for steel. The budget allotted Rs1,071bn ($14.70bn) for rail infrastructure and Rs2,870bn ($39.37bn) for water distribution infra (Jal Jeevan Mission) beside other allocations for construction of roads under Bharatmala Pariyojana, Swachh Bharat Mission and construction of mega textile parks.
The government emphasis on self-reliance to reduce imports through the Atmanirbhar Bharat project and the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme is expected to bring in additional capital investments into the manufacturing sector, which in turn could increase demand for steel in the country. The government has also provisioned PLI scheme for expansion of domestic speciality steel capacity.