The Indian steel sector is comparatively more robust during the recent slowdown years of the global steel industry as well as the transformative time of the COVID‐19 pandemic. The domestic steel industry bounced back stronger at the end of 2020 and this recovery trend is predicted to continue with a promising 7‐7.5% growth over the next four years, even higher than the ~5.2% CAGR in the past five years. This vibrant growth is expected to be driven predominantly by massive national fiscal support, accelerating the construction sector led by government initiatives and emergent capacity expansion efforts.
The Annual Steel Repot 2021 situates the Indian steel sector in the intersection of various factors in the current environment: the Covid-19 pandemic, the government’s call for Atmanirbharta (self-reliance), rising prices, and technological changes. Taking the approach that the sector’s short-term circumstances must be distinguished from the long-term horizons, the report is a comprehensive dipstick in understanding the steel sector in India in 2021.
The key highlights of the report are:
- Government initiatives and policy interventions persuasively stimulate steel intensity, for example projects like the Mumbai Ahmedabad High Speed Rail Corridor, National Infrastructure Pipeline, 100 Smart Cities, Vayu Marg and many more are talked about in detail.
- The key challenges facing the steel industry are talked about at length in the report.
- The report explores the opportunities that lay forth to the domestic steel sector on realising the vision of Atmanirbhar and Make in India
- The relaxation of foreign investment norms leading to the growth of FDI in the Indian Metallurgical Sector is also discussed in the report
- Trends in the Industry in the pre and post covid world as well as recommendations on how to unknot policy, tax, regulatory and qualitative issues are mentioned in the Steel Report of 2021.
