Naveen Jindal, President-Indian Steel Association and Chairman of Jindal Steel, said the country must ramp up its steel-making capacity to 500 million tonne by 2047 to meet rising demand from infrastructure, housing, and automobiles.

Jindal stated that higher per capita consumption, projected at around 300 kg in a developed India, underscores the crucial role of steel in improving the quality of life and driving economic growth.

Q: What is the long-term vision for India’s steel industry, and how do you see its role in supporting the country’s goal of becoming a developed economy by 2047?

A: We have to take our capacity to 500 million tonne by 2047 so that when India becomes a developed country, the per capita steel consumption will be around 300 kgs. So, we will need more steel to be able to provide a better quality of life to the people — better infrastructure, houses, cars, and so on.

So, all these things cannot be done without steel. Steel has a great future in India, and that's why the steel industry is very enthusiastic, and we are contributing our best to making India’s dreams a reality.

Q: Speaking of overall greening in the steel sector, of course, there are initiatives already underway. But on the other hand, we are also looking at the possibility of a carbon tax and several legislations which are coming up in the Western world. We are also facing the prospect of tariffs in the developed world. What kind of concerns arise, what kind of opportunities exist according to you, and what kind of action can be initiated by the Indian government to help the steel industry tide over such concerns?

A: As far as tariffs are concerned, say, the US has slapped a 50% tariff on Indian steel. Anyway, we weren’t exporting much steel to the USA. We can instead export to the rest of the world, and we ourselves are a 1.4 billion-strong population, and there are a lot of possibilities of increasing steel consumption within the country.

About decarbonising, the Government of India is also encouraging the steel industry to decarbonise to reduce its carbon footprint. It's a journey that we all have to go through. We cannot do it overnight, and not only in India, but all over the world, steel companies are making efforts to achieve it. It's not something very easy, but in the times to come, as technologies develop, we will also achieve that.

And as far as opportunities in the steel industry are concerned, steel has a very bright future in India and amongst all the large economies or all the large steel-producing countries, China has a negative growth rate, and India is growing in double digits. So, India is the only bright place for steel, I would say, in the world. And we are confident that in the next two decades, it will continue to be so.

Q: The minister spoke about new opportunities in sectors like shipbuilding. What kind of domestic value addition and capacity addition is being looked at to ensure that the steel industry can thrive and possibly ensure that a higher capacity leads to more output and not idle capacity?

A: Of course, there are lots of opportunities. Like the Honourable Minister spoke about shipbuilding, there is a worldwide shortage of ships and a huge demand. Shipbuilding is also very labour-intensive. So, there's a lot of potential for making more ships in India. And that way, because we already produce high-quality steel that is required for shipbuilding, we can leverage this strength.

So that is one area, and there can be many other areas also, like in buildings. He spoke a lot about prefabricated construction. If we adopt more prefabricated methods, we will be able to build homes, high-rise buildings, office spaces, etc., much faster and in a more environmentally friendly manner.

Source: CNBC TV 18 

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