The government will continue to focus on expanding steel production capacity and strengthening raw material security as India enters the final five years of its journey towards achieving 300 million tonne (MT) of installed steelmaking capacity by 2030, a steel ministry official said.
Alongside capacity addition, emphasis will remain on low-carbon technologies, green steel and the production of high-end and speciality steel to meet rising domestic demand and export requirements. Strong infrastructure spending across sectors such as housing, railways, automobiles, defence and capital goods is expected to support steel demand.
India’s installed steelmaking capacity stood at about 235 MT as of November 2025, and the country needs to add nearly 65 MT over the next five years to stay on track with the National Steel Policy targets. While demand growth is expected to remain healthy, the industry faces challenges from rising imports, volatile raw material prices and global trade uncertainties.
The government has imposed safeguard and anti-dumping duties to protect domestic producers and rolled out the PLI scheme to promote value-added and speciality steel. However, industry leaders caution that faster execution, policy stability and accelerated decarbonisation will be critical as pricing pressures persist and global markets increasingly shift towards low-carbon steel.
