Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday asked the steel industry to come together to build a “resilient, revolutionary and steel-strong India”.
Speaking at the India Steel-2025 event, the PM also said the country needed to strengthen its global partnerships for securing raw materials and called on the industry to start extracting iron ore from unused greenfield mines to increase steel production.
Terming steel as a “sunrise sector”, Modi underlined the need to up production of the commodity which is the “backbone” of development, adopt newer processes, undertake innovation, exchange best practices within and look at import substitutions in coal.
“Let us come together to build a resilient, revolutionary and steel-strong India,” Modi said in his address to steel industry participants.
He acknowledged that getting raw materials was a “major concern” for the steel sector, and urged all to strengthen global partnerships and secure supply chains.
“One major concern is raw material security. We still depend on imports for nickel, coking coal and manganese. And hence, we must strengthen global partnerships, secure supply chains, and focus on technology upgrades,” Modi said in a virtual address at the event. He said the country needed to explore alternatives like coal gasification and better utilisation of its reserves to reduce coal imports.
The industry must be future ready, and adopt new processes, new grades and new scale, the PM said, adding that the country was aiming to increase the steel production capacity to 300 million tonnes by 2030, from the 179 MT in FY24.