Steel industry saved Rs 34,800 cr forex by reducing imports: Scindia

The government policies for steel sector helped the country save Rs 34,800 crore in foreign exchange by reducing imports and added around 60 million tonnes (MT) of crude steel capacity, Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said.

India pushed Japan to third place to become the world's second largest steel producing nation, the minister for steel said while addressing a press conference titled 'The 9-years of government's seva, sushasan and gareeb kalyan focusing on steel sector'.

From an installed capacity of 109.85 MT in 2014-15, India's steel capacity increased by a sharp 46 per cent to 160.30 MT in 2022-23, he said, adding the total production rose 42 per cent from 88.98 MT to 126.26 MT.

The per capita steel consumption also rose from 60.8 kilogramme to 86.7 kg during the said period, registering a rise of 43 per cent.

As per the National Steel Policy 2017, the country aims to scale up the capacity to 300 MT by 2030-31 and production to 250 MT. While the target is to increase the