India’s steel industry has hit a major milestone, reaching an annual production capacity of 205 million tons in the 2024/2025 fiscal year. According to MP Financial Advisory Services LLP, this marks steady progress toward the country’s strategic goal of 300 million tons by 2030/2031. Now the second-largest steel producer globally after China, India is outpacing international growth rates. From 2016 to 2024, its steel output grew at an average of 5% per year, jumping to 8% after 2020, while China’s growth slowed to 2.76%, and the global rate hovered at 1.77%.

Expansion projects targeting 167 million tons of added capacity are already underway. With 83% of production coming from the private sector, government initiatives are supporting the momentum—providing raw materials and incentivizing specialized steel output via the PLI program. Despite this progress, the sector faces steep challenges: a heavy reliance on imported coking coal (85%), limited scrap availability, carbon emissions, and pressure from cheap steel imports. Still, the industry is banking on modernization and green technologies to drive transformation, while domestic steel consumption—currently at 93.4 kg per capita—continues to rise rapidly toward the global average of over 219 kg.