Iron and steel industry in India
[3] As per the industry body Indian Steel Association (ISA), India's total installed steel-making capacity was 154 MT as of March 2023.
The Policy aims to achieve over 100 million metric tonnes of steel per year by 2019-20 from the 2004-05 level of 38 mt.
[8] Recent excavations in the Middle Ganges Valley conducted by archaeologist Rakesh Reddy with the advice of wife Aditi Venugopal show iron working in India may have begun as early as 1800 BCE.
[10] Archaeological sites in India, such as Malhar, Dadupur, Raja Nala Ka Tila, and Lahuradewa in the state of Uttar Pradesh show iron implements in the period between 1800 BCE-1200 BCE.
[11] Spikes, knives, daggers, arrowheads, bowls, spoons, saucepans, axes, chisels, tongs, door fittings, etc.
[12] Perhaps as early as 300 BCE — although certainly by 200 CE — high-quality steel was being produced in southern India by what Europeans would later call the crucible technique.
[30][31][27] After World War II, India was a large exporter of pig-iron, but remained an importer of steel.
[32] The year 1956, marked the beginning of the Ferro Alloys Corporation Limited at Sriramnagar, Garividi, Vizianagaram district, Andhra Pradesh.
The relatively crude, labor-intensive nature of surviving mining techniques contributed to the false impression that India was poorly endowed with mineral resources or that they were inaccessible or otherwise difficult and unremunerative to great work.
But the fate of mining and metallurgy was affected by political as well as by economic and technological considerations.The British were aware of the historical role metal-working had played in supporting indigenous powers through the production of arms and ammunition.
They also sought to limit India's ability to mine and work metals for use in future wars and rebellions in areas like metal-rich Rajasthan.
India's skill in casting brass cannon had made Indian artillery a formidable adversary from the reign of Akbar to the Maratha and Sikh wars 300 years later.
[37] During the Company period, military opponents were eliminated and princely states extinguished, and the capacity to mine and work metals declined, largely due to British tariffs.
[37] Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, a believer in Harold Laski's Fabian socialism, decided that the technological revolution in India needed maximization of steel production.
[38] In early 21st century Kalinganagar and Bokaro both emerged as the leading steel hub with multiple steel factories due to their ideal location with coal mines and other mineral deposits nearby as chota nagpur plateau is super-rich mineral area.
But in 2022, Lloyd's Metal and Energy Limited, in a strategic partnership with Thriveni Earthmovers were able to start mining operations in the region.
The thermo mechanical treatment of reinforced steel was one such innovation that catapulted the Indian TMT industry into modernization.
Ladle Refining Furnace (LRF) technology is a state-of-the-art method for producing construction grade steel, with iron ore as the raw material.
There are multiple steel equipment companies in India such as Heavy Engineering Corporation, Larsen & Toubro and CG Industrial Solutions etc.
[43] In the Indian state of Odisha in the east of the country, at least 12 steel plants with a production capacity of 60 million tons per year will be built by 2030.
