Steel demand to grow by 10-11% in FY12: Muthuraman

The country's steel demand might grow by around 10-11% in the current fiscal, believes Tata Steel Vice Chairman B Muthuraman.

"Steel demand will be good. The growth will be around 10-11% in the current fiscal," Muthuraman said.

Recording a growth of just over 9%, India had consumed 63.55 million tonnes of steel in 2009-10 compared to 58.28 million tonnes in the previous year.

According to latest government figures available, during the April-December period of 2010-11, total steel consumption in India was 51.8 million tonnes, a 9.53% growth vis-a-vis the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.

Though Muthuraman's reasoning for the expected growth in steel demand could not be obtained, one could assume that the government's thrust on infrastructure might fuel the growth in demand.

The present per capita consumption of steel in India is only around 49 kg, against the world average of 182 kg.

With nearly 80 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) installed capacity, India is currently the world's fifth largest producer of crude steel.

Steel-makers -- both domestic and overseas -- have already signed 222 Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) with various states for putting up plants with a cumulative capacity of around 276 mtpa.