AM/NS India Launches First Dedicated Scrap Processing Facility in Khopoli, Maharashtra

ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India (AM/NS India) today inaugurated its dedicated first SCRAP processing plant at the Khopoli location in Maharashtra. The new unit has an annual capacity of 120,000 tonnes and is the first phase of a ₹350 crore investment program towards improving domestic scrap availability for steel production. The facility is the first among the four proposed scrap processing units across India.

India’s scrap supply chain has been fragmented for a long, with materials passing through several intermediaries before they reach steelmakers. It is a process that adds costs and reduces the quality of the materials. The decision by AM/NS India to have in-house processing of scrap will help increase the quality of material and yield, reduce logistics and conversion costs and play a role in the formalisation of the scrap industry.

Khopoli being the first of its kind facility in India also marks the success of a pilot project on scrap processing at scale undertaken by the company to meet the growing demand for recycled steel. The move lawyers with the need for sustainable steel production across industries such as automotive manufacturing and shipbuilding.

The introduction of the Vehicle Scrappage Policy (2021) the upcoming Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) norms (effective April 2025), and the Green Steel Taxonomy by the Indian government is expected to enhance domestic scrap availability. The expanded scrap processing capacity of AM/NS India will also empower the nation’s scrap supply chain, enhancing the overall efficiency of Indian steelmaking.

Akshaya Gujral, Executive Director – Downstream Operations, AM/NS India, reiterated the company’s resolve towards India’s sustainability objectives. “The share of scrap metal in steel production is targeted to go up to 50% in India by 2047,” he said. “With our Khopoli unit and other units to be commissioned this year, we will contribute in a big way to the organization of the domestic scrap industry, besides addressing the increasing customer demand for recycled steels.”

AM/NS India aims to phase out its coal-based steelmaking assets and increase the proportion of scrap in steelmaking to more than 10% by 2030 from the current 3-5% as it works to meet its overall decarbonization roadmap. With continuous investments in high-quality scrap, they are making their operations use a more sustainable version Of the Direct Reduced Iron (DRI) and Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) process in their production.