The steel ministry has asked state-run companies to raise capacity by 80% to 45 million tonne per annum by 2030-31 from around 25 mtpa at present. SAIL and RINL are the two steel-making PSUs under the administrative control of the steel ministry. NMDC’s maiden steel venture is also almost ready to start production.

The directive came during a capex review meeting by steel minister Ram Chandra Prasad Singh with the state-run companies. The minister asked the firms to “plan their capital projects prudently in line with the National Steel Policy (NSP), 2017”.

The NSP 2017 aims at taking the country’s steel-making capacity to 300 mtpa by 2030-31. With a little over 16 mtpa added in the last five years, India’s current capacity stands at 154 mtpa.

“Based on the present assessment, the government is confident [of reaching] the capacity of 300 mtpa by 2030-31. Most of the capacity expansion comes through brownfield and some greenfield expansion which may come from 2025-30,” a statement issued after the meeting said.

PSU steel firms had a cumulative capex of Rs 10,038 crore in FY22, up 38% over Rs 7,277 crore in FY21.