Draft National Steel Policy to be released for public consultation within a week
Steel Secretary Sandeep Poundrik says the draft National Steel Policy will be made public within a week, setting a 2047 roadmap for the sector.
The government will publish the draft of a new National Steel Policy within about a week, opening it up for stakeholder consultation, Steel Secretary Sandeep Poundrik said on Tuesday. The proposed framework is intended to lay out a roadmap for the country's steel sector through 2047, aligning it with the Viksit Bharat goal.
Speaking to reporters, Poundrik said the existing National Steel Policy of 2017 is being revisited because the sector has altered substantially over the past decade. Issues that received limited attention then — artificial intelligence, machine learning, technology upgradation, decarbonisation and sustainability — now demand greater policy focus, he said.
India's standing in the global steel industry has also shifted, with domestic capacity and consumption both rising. Poundrik said these changes, along with the need for course correction on capacity and consumption, prompted the move to frame a fresh policy that would serve as a guide for the next two decades.
The 2017 policy had envisaged crude steelmaking capacity of 300 million tonnes per annum by 2030-31. Steel Ministry data released in August put India's annual crude steel capacity at about 222.7 million tonnes as of July 2026.
According to Poundrik, the new policy will also set out steps to discourage cheap and sub-standard steel imports, including safeguard and anti-dumping measures, while seeking to improve the competitiveness of domestic producers, especially smaller ones.
The government is proposing a Rs 5,000 crore scheme, Viksit Bharat Ispat, for small steel producers, with incentives tied to production and to cuts in carbon emissions. Poundrik said lowering emissions would call for better technology, improved raw materials and greater use of renewable energy, and that the scheme is expected to be placed before the competent authority for approval soon.
The technology thrust comes amid a broader push for digitalisation in the sector. In June, the Steel Ministry said tools such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, digital twins, robotics and advanced data analytics would be important as India expands steelmaking capacity while tackling decarbonisation and competitiveness concerns.
Poundrik added that the government is working on measures to support green steel production, including incentives for smaller producers and carbon-reduction requirements for larger steelmakers.