In India, the rush to expand steel production is picking up speed. The largest producer of steel in the nation, JSW Steel, intends to boost domestic crude steel capacity from 27.7 million tonnes (MT) to 37 MT annually by March 2025.
During this time, the company will invest 37,300 crore in capital projects. By 2030, Tata Steel, a rival, plans to quadruple its domestic capacity to 40 MT. The corporation will invest $12,000 crore over this fiscal year in order to meet the goal.
N Chandrasekaran, chairman of the Tata Group, claims that India will continue to be a significant consumer of steel in the global market due to infrastructural growth, growing urbanisation, and beneficial policy reforms. “We expect the steel demand to keep pace with the GDP growth over the next decade,” he says.
Sajjan Jindal, chairman of the JSW Group, states that domestic steel consumption rose by 13.3% to 120 MT in FY23. “Looking ahead to FY24, we anticipate an incremental steel demand of 8-10 MT in India,” he says in the annual report. JSW Steel is also looking to expand the capacities of the acquired entities, Bhushan Power and Steel and JSW Ispat Special Products (Formerly Monnet Ispat).
The largest steel producer in the world, ArcelorMittal, which is controlled by Lakshmi Mittal, and its joint venture partner Nippon Steel are investing 60,000 crores to increase the capacity of steel production at Hazira from 9 MT to 15 MT. The investment will also be used to expand the product mix and install new steel-making equipment and technology. Additionally, there will be construction of captive renewable energy capacities for the plant’s production of green steel.
Additionally, the proposal of ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel (AMNS) India Ltd to build a 7MT steel mill in the Jagatsinghpur area had been approved by the Odisha government. The project will initially require a 38,000 crore investment from the corporation.