Speaking at a panel discussion on structural steel organised by Naredco in New Delhi on Friday, industry executives said India has adequate steel-making capacity but lacks the regulatory support, building codes, skilled workforce and fabrication ecosystem needed to drive large-scale adoption.
Calling for government intervention, Alok Sahay, secretary general of the Indian Steel Association, said an expert group comprising representatives from the steel ministry, producers, construction agencies, educational institutions and the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) should be formed to chart a roadmap for increasing steel usage in construction.
He also advocated revisions to BIS codes, accreditation bodies for structures and skilled workers, changes in engineering curricula, and separate building codes for medium-rise, high-rise and skyscraper projects.
“There is a need to frame separate BIS codes for medium-rise buildings, high-rises and skyscrapers. We can't have the same code for all kinds of structures,” Sahay said.
Highlighting India's capability gap, Sahay noted that Japan has 2,118 certified fabricators compared with just 25 in India.
“Knowledge of steel is available at all levels in Japan. Standard design guidelines are available; there are courses for welders and supervisors, while very few engineering colleges in India offer courses on steel-based design,” he said.
The industry’s demand for policy support was echoed by P K Mishra, director general of the Institute for Steel Development & Growth (INSDAG), who described weak policy backing as one of the biggest barriers to wider adoption.
Mishra said the government should make life-cycle cost (LCC) analysis mandatory for major public projects.
“If LCC studies become mandatory before taking up large public projects, you will find the ecosystem also coming into place,” he said.
He added that INSDAG has prepared a model undergraduate curriculum on steel design with the help of IIT professors and submitted it to the Ministry of Steel for onward consideration by the Ministry of Education.
Industry representatives argued that rapid urbanisation and shrinking land availability are making vertical development inevitable, strengthening the case for greater use of structural steel.
Roopali Mehra, assistant vice-president (marketing) at Jindal Steel, said lighter steel structures are particularly suited to high-rise construction in a country where nearly three-fourths of the landmass falls in seismic zones.
“The interest from the business community will have to come from a nudge from the government, as it happened in semiconductors, EV charging infrastructure and drones,” she said.
Gian P Mathur, founder and managing director of GPM Architects & Planners, stressed the need for skill development and dedicated steel codes.
“Training of workers, training of designers and availability of codes are very essential. Right now, we do not have a dedicated steel code. We are struggling for that,” Mathur said.
Anil Arora, executive director (commercial) at Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL), identified multi-storey parking facilities, vertical warehouses and high-rise residential projects as key growth areas for structural steel.
“Our consumption in residential and commercial construction is hardly five per cent,” Arora said. “Steel can solve the problem to a great extent as far as urbanisation is concerned, and it has to be used in greater volumes to create living spaces.”
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