Rural India to be the Major Driver of Steel Demand Growth

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The rural steel demand growth in India is likely to make the sector more vibrant in coming years, said Dharmendra Pradhan, India’s Minister for Steel, Petroleum and Natural Gas. The Minister was delivering the inaugural address at the 'Steeling India-2019: Driving metal intensity in key sectors' organised by non-government industry association Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

The Minister urged the domestic steel industry to leverage innovation and state-of-the-art technologies in making the steel manufacturing process more sustainable and cost-effective. The rising purchasing capacity of the people and rapid industrialization offers great opportunities of expansion and growth for the domestic steel sector. He reminded that the country’s per capita steel consumption is still very much lower than the global average. The Minister highlighted on the recently launched collaborative campaign ‘Ispati Irada’ aimed at increasing steel usage.

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According to the Minister, rural India will be the next driver of steel demand growth. Rising rural incomes coupled with implementation of several government housing schemes is expected to drive the steel consumption in rural areas. He expressed confidence that the country is soon expected to become a net steel exporter.

At the same time, the Minister urged the industry participants to implement innovative technologies aimed at improving manufacturing efficiency, boosting logistics facilities and reducing the cost of steel production.