Overview
- Steel secretary Sandeep Poundrik said roughly 150 smaller producers have halted output as low prices erode margins.
- Hot rolled coil traded around Rs 47,000–48,000 per tonne in late October, marking an almost five-year low, according to BigMint.
- The government has applied a provisional safeguard duty on steel imports, tightened Quality Control Orders to block substandard inflows, and is coordinating with the coal ministry to lift domestic coking coal use.
- Policy plans target about 100 million tonnes of new capacity every five to seven years, alongside National Steel Policy goals of 300 million tonnes by 2030–31 and 500 million tonnes by 2047.
- Officials highlighted a green-steel pathway using DRI plus hydrogen, noting faster‑than‑expected declines in hydrogen costs and pilot projects underway that could make the route viable within five to ten years.