India is the world’s 2nd-largest crude steel producer and 2nd-largest consumer of finished steel. Its share in global crude steel production rose from 5.2% in 2014 to 7.9% in 2024. In FY 2025–26, India produced 168.4 MT of crude steel and 160.9 MT of finished steel, while finished-steel consumption reached 163.7 MT.

• Backbone of industrialisation: Steel is crucial for infrastructure, construction, automobiles, railways, defence and manufacturing, with construction and infrastructure accounting for about 68% of steel consumption in FY 2023–24.
• Strong domestic demand: Finished-steel consumption increased from 77 MT in 2014–15 to 163.7 MT in 2025–26, driven by infrastructure, urbanisation and manufacturing.

Key Challenges

• Coking-coal dependence: Limited domestic availability of high-quality coking coal keeps India significantly dependent on imports.
• Resource challenge: India has substantial iron-ore availability, but remains dependent on imports of coking coal, a critical input for conventional steelmaking.
• High carbon intensity: Conventional steelmaking is energy-intensive and a major source of CO₂ emissions, creating pressure for green transition.
• Logistics & technology: High transportation costs, infrastructure constraints and the need for advanced technologies affect the global competitiveness of Indian steel.

• Global market volatility: Fluctuations in international steel prices, trade restrictions and import competition can affect the profitability and export competitiveness of Indian producers. 
• High transition costs: Shifting to green technologies such as green hydrogen, CCUS and low-carbon DRI requires high upfront investment, while many technologies are still evolving commercially.

Major Government Initiatives

• National Steel Policy, 2017: Targets 300 MTPA crude-steel capacity and 255 MTPA production by 2030–31, while reducing coking-coal import dependence from 85% to 65%.
• PLI Scheme for Specialty Steel: Promotes domestic production of high-value steel. Under PLI 1.0/1.1, ₹23,022 crore investment has been realised, generating 2.4 MT production and 13,264 direct jobs.
• Mission Coking Coal: Aims to increase domestic raw coking-coal production to 140 MT by FY 2029–30, reducing import dependence.
• Steel Scrap Recycling Policy, 2019: Promotes domestic scrap availability and supports resource-efficient and low-carbon steelmaking.
• Green Steel Taxonomy: India introduced the world’s first official Green Steel Taxonomy in 2024, defining green steel based on its greenhouse-gas emission intensity.
• DMI&SP Policy: Gives preference to domestically manufactured iron and steel products in government procurement to strengthen domestic value chains.

Way Forward

• Accelerate green steel transition: Scale up renewable energy, green hydrogen, energy efficiency and low-carbon production routes to reduce emission intensity.
• Promote circular economy: Strengthen scrap collection, segregation and recycling infrastructure to reduce dependence on virgin raw materials and coal.
• Enhance R&D and technology: Strengthen SRTMI–industry–academia collaboration for advanced steelmaking, AI/Industry 4.0 and indigenous technologies. 
• Improve logistics & infrastructure: Develop multimodal transport, slurry pipelines, ports and dedicated freight connectivity to reduce logistics costs.
• Boost value-added steel: Focus on specialty, automotive, electrical and strategic-grade steel to reduce imports and move up global value chains.