India bets big on steel supremacy
India plans to reach 300 million tonnes of crude steel production capacity by 2030, Union Minister of State for Steel Bhupathiraju Srinivas Varma said on Friday. He made the remarks during a meeting with Sweden’s State Secretary for Energy, Business and Industry, Sara Modig, in the presence of Swedish Ambassador Jan Thesleff and other officials. Varma credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership for the sector’s expansion.
Domestic steel demand is rising by 11 to 13 percent annually, driven by major infrastructure projects, even as global demand slows. The talks explored joint research in green steel and low-carbon technologies. Varma also invited Sweden to join Bharat Steel 2026, an international steel conference set for April 16–17, 2026, at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi.
Steel output jumped 14.1 per cent in September compared with the same month last year, lifting core sector growth to 3 per cent. From April to September 2025, steel production increased by 11 percent year-over-year. In April 2025, the government imposed a 12 percent temporary safeguard duty on select steel imports to protect local producers, reinforcing its ‘Make in India’ push.
