The finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman has urged domestic steel producers to focus on decarbonisation and boosting domestic production of specialty steel to reduce dependence on imports. She stressed the need to pursue decarbonisation at a pace consistent with India's development priorities, requiring credible emissions measurement, technology development and a fair sharing of transition costs. Further, she highlighted the PLI scheme introduced by the government for specialty steel, with an approved outlay of Rs 6,300 crore, which aimed at encouraging investment in domestic manufacturing and technology upgradation, helping India to produce more of the specialised steel that its economy needs. She added that greater domestic production of specialty and high-grade steel would support strategic industries and reduce dependence on specialised imports.
On steel demand in India, she pointed that the steel consumption in India has exceeded production in two successive years, underscoring the strength of the domestic market, at a time when much of the global industry is grappling with excess capacity and weak demand. Underscoring the growth potential, she said that India's steel consumption has considerable room to rise as the country’s per person steel consumption is around 109 kg as compared with the world average of 209 kg. She added that demand for steel is driven by the government's sustained public capital investment program with construction and infrastructure accounting for about two-thirds of India's steel use. Union government capital expenditure has risen sixfold, from around Rs 2 lakh crore in FY15, to Rs 12.2 lakh crore in FY27.
On global trade, the finance minister said successive unilateral tariffs merely redirect surplus steel from one market to another. She noted that a lasting solution to global excess capacity requires multilateral disciplines on subsidies that sustain uneconomic production, backed by transparent data. Moreover, she emphasised that for World Steel Association members, India offers the fastest-growing major steel market, with a public investment program and a green steel framework already in place. Sitharaman also urged the World Steel Association to consider setting up an office in India, citing the country's emergence as the largest single source of growth in global steel demand.
