Page 26 - Steel Metallurgy eMagazine Volume September 2026

DEMAND FORECASTING

REVISITING THE NATIONAL STEEL POLICY:

HAS INDIA'S CAPACITY AMBITION KEPT

PACE WITH DEMAND?

"Industrial policy is ultimately measured not by announced targets, but by
the institutions and execution that transform ambition into productive capacity."

hen the Government of would drive sustained demand for steel execution, investment decisions and
India approved the National over the coming decades. the practical challenges associated with
WSteel Policy (NSP) in 2017, expanding mining and steelmaking
it established an ambitious roadmap for I had the opportunity to work in the capacity.
the sector. The policy envisaged crude Ministry of Steel during the period
steel capacity of 300 million tonnes when the National Steel Policy was Looking back after nearly a decade, the
(MT), production of 255 MT, and being formulated. Later, while working evidence suggests, sufficient information
per-capita finished steel consumption in NMDC, India's largest iron ore is now available to assess the progress
of 160 kg by 2030-31. These targets producer, I continued to observe the made so far. The purpose of this paper
were framed with the expectation that implementation of the policy from a is not to revisit the policy itself, but to
India's infrastructure development, different perspective—one that involved examine whether current trends indicate
urbanisation and manufacturing growth raw material availability, project that India remains on course to achieve

24 STEEL & METALLURGY SEPTEMBER 2026