Steel Minister Beni Prasad Verma today exuded confidence that India would become the world's second-largest producer of the alloy by 2013, with an installed annual production capacity of 120 million tonne.
"Currently, India has the fourth-largest steel sector in the world, both in terms of capacity and production. By 2013, India will be the second-largest steel producer in the world. It is estimated that India will have a production capacity of 120 million tonne," Verma said at an Assocham event here.
India's production capacity currently stands at around 80 million tonne and the minister said the capacity was expected to rise to over 150 million tonne by 2020. The steel-making capacity of the country was just 51 million tonne in 2006.
Meanwhile, Steel Secretary PK Mishra said by the end of the current financial year, the steel manufacturing capacity of the country might reach around 90 million tonne.
"This is likely to cross 110 million tonne by next financial year when the brownfield capacity addition projects of SAIL, JSW Steel and Tata Steel get commissioned," Mishra said.
The secretary said that growth in steel demand averaged 10% over the last seven years and there was a likelihood that the trend would continue at least for the next decade.
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"There are expectations that steel demand in the country may exceed 10% at times, during the next 10-15 years horizon. In such a scenario, our steel production capacity should reach 150 million tonne by 2018," he said.
Mishra hoped that the country would be able to meet steel demand through domestic production at least for the next five years.