“The focus was around what we should be manufacturing in the country, especially from the perspective of being self-sufficient,” one of the sources said. “A lot of products we currently import are high-value items, for which we do not have the technology – the discussions were around how these and other things can be done locally.”
The products include electrical steel, cold-rolled grain-oriented steel and certain steel alloys. The parliamentary standing committee for coal, mines and steel has engaged with local manufacturers to ascertain the feasibility of making these items that are crucial to the automotive value chain and transformers.
JSW Steel, Tata Steel, Steel Authority of India, AM/NS India and Jindal Steel were the key manufacturers present at the meeting, besides representatives from the Indian Steel Association, sources cited said.
While the import of several steel products was smaller in quantum, that of cold-rolled grain-oriented (CRGO) steel was the highest, the sources said. CRGO finds application in transformers, and as much as 90% of the demand for this steel is met through imports.
Electrical Steel
JSW Steel, in a joint venture with Japan’s JFE Steel, is setting up a facility in Vijayanagar, Karnataka for the production of CRGO, which will start production in fiscal 2028. The joint venture between the two companies also acquired Thyssenkrupp Electrical Steel India, which manufactures grain-oriented electrical steel at its facility at Nashik in Maharashtra.
India, which is the second-largest producer of steel in the world, imported 3.8 million tonne of steel in the April to October period, down by nearly a third. The consumption of steel in this period stood at around 92 million tonne.
Apart from the technological prowess needed for the manufacturing of certain types of steel, the standing committee has examined and discussed other issues related to manufacturing in India, such as availability of raw materials, especially in the context of the current geopolitical situation.
Lok Sabha member Anurag Singh Thakur is the chairman for the parliamentary standing committee for coal, mines and steel, which has close to 30 members from Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha.
The Indian Steel Association is expected to respond to the committee in the next few days. Queries sent to the association remained unanswered till the time of going to the press.