Steel is a ‘growth commodity’, vital to the backbone sectors of any industrial economy. In India, this foundational metal underpins infrastructure, construction, mobility and defence, making it central to the country’s development story. The government has now set its sights high: ramping up domestic steelmaking capacity to 300 million tonnes by 2030–31, a 50% jump from current levels. While the vision aligns with India’s economic ambitions, the challenges ahead are steep and multifaceted.Yet, even with this upward trend in output, India’s imports of finished steel have been rising sharply. In 2023–24, imports surged past 8.3 million tonnes, nearly double the volume from two years earlier. Most of this came from China, South Korea, Japan and Vietnam. This presents a paradox: a country with growing domestic capacity and consumption is still importing more steel. Some of this may be explained by quality and grade gaps, or more attractive global prices, but it points to underlying competitiveness issues within the domestic sector.
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