AM/NS India to Make Car Makers Independent on Steel Imports

ArcelorMittal-Nippon Steel joint venture, AM/NS India, is planning to force carmakers to stop importing steel by March 2025. “We will commission a new $1 billion production line at Hazira, near Surat, to address the long-term problems that the automotive sector was facing in getting the right quality of steel,” said Md.

Currently, Indian carmakers consume around 8 million tonnes of steel every year. Almost 20% of this is imported. The gap exists mainly because the quality of steel needed for vehicle body parts is not available in India. Ranjan Dhar, director and vice-president of sales and marketing at AM/NS India, said that once the new production line starts, this reliance on foreign steel will end.

“This will be one of the most advanced automotive steel lines in the world. This will enable us to meet all the needs of the automotive industry in India. When the line is up and running, all imports of automotive steel will be completely redundant,” Dhar said.

This announcement coincides with a rise in steel imports into India, which surged 27% to 6.5 million tonnes between April and November 2024, according to government data. Much of the increase in imports is attributed to dealers and distributors supplying smaller industries, rather than the automotive sector itself.

One of the concerns in the auto industry is the reliance on imported products. Auto companies like Hyundai and Kia, which enjoy a free trade pact with Korea and Japan, have been called to task on that front. Conversely, imports from the automotive industry in terms of steel have dwindled during the past decade.

The new production line at AM/NS India would feature continuous galvanizing and annealing capacity, making the company produce steel products for the first time in the country. Speaking on the new expansion, CEO of AM/NS India, Dilip Oommen, explained that this project is part of a strategy to help improve India’s steel production capability and support the “Atmanirbhar Bharat” – Self-reliant India initiative.