Domestic steel output lags far behind demand: minister
11 Dec 2009
The supply of steel in the domestic market is able to match the demand, which is being met from domestic steel production as well as through imports, minister of state for steel A Sai Prathap told the Lok Sabha on Thursday.
The steel consumption in the country is, however, growing at a rate faster than domestic production. During the April-November period of the current year, as per the provisional figures released by JPC, domestic production has grown by 3 per cent, whereas consumption has shown a growth of 8.1 per cent.
Most of the growth in steel consumption is taking place on account of housing, infrastructure automobile and consumer goods sectors, Prathap said in a written reply.
Considering that the steel demand in India is likely to grow even faster in the future, the government is facilitating setting up of new steel production capacities in the country. The two public sector units under the ministry of steel - Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) and Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL) have already undertaken major capacity expansion plans, he said.
SAIL plans to increase its capacity from 13.82 million tonnes per annum of crude steel to 23.46 mtpa by the year 2012-13. Similarly, RINL is also undertaking its liquid steel capacity from 3.0 mtpa to 6.3 mtpa by the year 2011-12, the minister said.
