Union Budget 2025: Increase in PLI scheme for specialty steel

According to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1, her eighth successive Union Budget allocated a sum of considerable measures to the production-linked incentive program for specialty steel. The initial approval by the Government of India was in the year 2021 with ₹6,322 crore as an outlay but is aimed toward encouraging the growth of high-value steel products where the technological aptitude of India’s steel manufacturing industry will flourish and the propensity to import decreased.

It aspires to envision growth for India within the international steel market and a rise in value-added grades of steel production as well as further strengthening of self-reliance in terms of steel production by the country, in keeping with the broader objectives of the Atma Nirbhar Bharat mission.

In January 2025, Union Minister of Steel and Heavy Industries HD Kumaraswamy rolled out the second phase of the PLI scheme named PLI Scheme 1.1, which would ease some of the conditions for a larger industry to come forward in response to pleas from the stakeholders in the steel industry. The government’s decision reflects its continuing commitment to innovation and improving domestic production capacities in the sector.

Five important categories of products come under PLI Scheme 1.1-coated/plated steel products, high-strength/wear-resistant steel, specialty rails, alloy steel products, and electrical steel. The latter are extremely essential in high-demand sectors such as automotive, white goods, transformers, and many other specialty industries. Therefore, the scheme would encourage producers, reduce imports, and catapult India into a global specialty steel manufacturing hub.