India's Crude Steel Production Reaches 170.15 MT In FY26

New Delhi, Aug 8 (KNN) India's crude steel production increased to 170.15 million tonnes (MT) in FY 2025-26 from 144.30 MT in FY 2023-24, while crude steel capacity expanded to 220.41 MT, the government informed the Rajya Sabha.

Steel Capacity And Output Continue To Expand
The government said the National Steel Policy (NSP), 2017 targets the creation of 300 MT of crude steel capacity and 255 MT of crude steel production by 2030-31.

During the last three years, crude steel capacity increased from 179.51 MT to 220.41 MT, while capacity utilisation moderated from 80.4 percent to 77.2 percent. Per capita finished steel consumption also rose from 97.7 kg to 115.7 kg during the period.

SAIL Advances Capacity Expansion Plans
Among major steel producers, the Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) has approved an expansion plan to increase its crude steel capacity from around 20 MT to 35 MT by FY 2030-31 across its plants in Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Odisha and Jharkhand.

Government Focuses On Policy Support For Sector Growth
The Ministry of Steel said the sector remains deregulated, with investment and capacity expansion decisions taken by individual companies based on techno-commercial considerations.

The government's role is to facilitate a conducive policy environment to enhance domestic production, reduce import dependence and attract investment.

To support the sector, the government is implementing the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for Specialty Steel and the Domestically Manufactured Iron & Steel Products (DMI&SP) Policy to promote government procurement of domestically produced steel.

(KNN Bureau)