India's steel output grows 4 pc to 8.59 MT in Apr

India's crude steel production grew 4.4 per cent to 8.59 million tonne (MT) during April 2018, according to official data.

The country had produced 8.22 MT during the same month a year ago, the Joint Plant Committee (JPC) said in a report.

"During April 2018, crude steel production was at 8.59 MT, a growth of 4.4 per cent over April 2017," it said.

SAIL, Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL), Tata Steel , Essar Steel, JSW Steel and Jindal Steel and Power Ltd together produced 5.01 MT during April. This was 6.7 per cent more compared to 4.7 MT the six players had produced in April 2017, the report said.

"The rest 3.57 MT came from other producers, showing a growth of 1.4 per cent over April 2017," it added.

During April 2018, the output of hot metal was at 5.80 MT as compared to 5.38 MT during the year-ago month. While 4.83 MT was produced by the six companies, the rest 0.96 MT came from other producers.

Output of pig iron rose 1.9 per cent to 0.80 MT from 0.78 MT in April 2017.

According to World Steel Organisation (worldsteel), India outstripped Japan to become the second largest steel producer as its steel output grew 3.43 per cent to 8.43 MT in February against 8.29 MT of the latter.

India has set a target of producing 300 MT crude steel by 2030 with an investment of Rs 10 lakh crore. In this regard, the Cabinet last year approved the National Steel Policy (NSP).

Empowered by Ministry of Steel, JPC is the only institution which collects data on the Indian iron and steel industry.