Underlining substantial rise in the demand for steel in the country, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas & Steel Dharmendra Pradhan has said that it is expected to increase further in the future as India embarks on becoming a $5 trillion economy by 2024. He emphasized that the demand of steel has seen substantial increase, on the back of rapid economic & infrastructural development in India.
Pradhan further noted that India is committed to spend about $1.4 trillion on its infrastructure development in the next five years, adding that all this augurs well for the steel demand in the country. He also mentioned about the government’s determination to raise the per capita consumption of steel from its current low of 72 kg per capita to 160 kg per capita by 2030.
On the issue of the steel excess capacity, the minister said that steel sector in India is deregulated and is driven by market forces. Besides, he said that as it is well known, India does not contribute or suffer from excess capacity and added that ‘We are mindful and conscious of the problems, which originate from excess capacity, and thus respect the principles laid down by Global Forum on Steel Excess Capacity.’