In FY’15, steel industry consumed 66 million tonne of coal and its consumption has increased nearly three-fold between FY’06 and FY’15, the report entitled ‘Bridging the gap- Increasing coal production and sector augmentation’ said. Imported coal accounted for approximately two-third of the total coal consumption by the steel sector in India. India has set a target of 300 mt of crude steel capacity and 275 mt crude steel production by 2025–26, increasing the capacity level to approximately 110 mt and production level to approximately 89 mt in 2015. This is an approximately three-fold increase in both capacity and production levels, the report added.
In 2015, India became the world’s third largest producer of crude steel, with a production of 89 mt, and the third largest producer of sponge iron. The steel sector’s contribution to India’s GDP is approximately 2% and the steel industry is one of the eight core industries of India’s economy. In 2014, India’s world’s average was 216.6 kg, which indicates India’s huge growth potential in the sector.