India's steel production can touch 300 mn tonnes by 2025

The centre is committed to remove the hurdles in steel production by scaling up production to to 300 million tonnes (mt) by 2025 from the 81 mt in 2013-14, according to Narendra Singh Tomar, Minister for Steel and Mines, who added that India does not want to stand on the fourth position in steel production in the world but wants to move to second position in the next 10 years.
 
Addressing the National Metallurgy Day awards at the College of Engineering in Pune on November 15, 2014, Tomar said, “The steel industry is committed to achieving this target under the ‘Make in India’ program chalked out by the PM Narendra Modi. In order to achieve this, forgetting the neglect and lapses of the past, we would try and remove the obstacles in supply of the raw material iron ore for steel producers, remove problems in mining of the ore, and bring in simplicity and transparency in the sector so that producers are rest assured that if they invest in a plant they can produce the steel.”
 
Tomar said that except SAIL and Tata Steel most other producers are dependent on others’ mines and hence simplifying procedures and amending the law would be done. The MMDR Act would be amended by doing the necessary research on the changes required.
 
Stressing that research was a neglected activity in the sector, Tomar said, “This must be corrected by increasing the spending on R&D. Without R&D, we cannot hope to be a large exporter in steel and catch up with countries like China. His Ministry has decided to set up a Research Centre to encourage R&D in the sector which will also encompass the private sector.”