India’s Ministry of Steel Charts Global Strategy for 2025, Aiming to Lead in Production and Exports

The Indian Ministry of Steel is preparing a global strategy for steel in January 2025. This plan aims to align the Indian steel industry with global best practices using sustainable solutions in raw material, technology, investment, and export domains. The ministry made this public release on December 30 during its end-of-year industry review.

The strategy envisages the establishment of India as a world leader in both steel production and exports, with collaborative international initiatives already put into action to place the country at the steel market’s forefront globally.

Key highlights from the ministry’s end-of-the-year review included taking strides toward sustainability, steel quality enhancement, and boosting domestic manufacturing efforts. One of the prominent initiatives was the ‘Green Steel Mission,’ which aimed to promote decarbonization within the steel sector through massive investments of about $1.76 billion, supporting India’s overall net-zero ambitions which incorporate the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for specialty steel, renewable energy incentives, and government policies to promote green steel procurement.

India’s reserves of iron ore and non-coking coal are, however, sufficient; it is only coking coal where the country heavily depends on imports due to domestic short supply. The ministry intends to diversify sourcing by entering into partnerships with countries like Russia and starting exploration missions in Mongolia to find alternate coking coal supplies.

The Ministry of Steel intends to fortify not just the domestic industry but also allow it to be competitive in the international steel market while it embarks on the path of becoming a little more sustainable and self-reliant.