Steel imports have declined in recent years, the government said in Parliament on Monday.
Against domestic consumption of 98.71 million tonne (MT) in 2018-19, 100.17 MT in 2019-20, 94.89 MT in 2020-21 and 24.58 MT in the first three months of the current fiscal, India imported 7.9 MT in 2018-19, 6.8 MT in 2019-20, 5 MT in 2020-21 and 4.7 MT in the April-June period of the current fiscal.
The share of imports in domestic consumption fell to 5% in 2020-21 from 6.8% in 2019-20 and 7.9% in 2018-19. The share fell even further to 4.7% in the first three months of the current fiscal, data compiled by the steel ministry showed.
“The demand for steel in the country is predominantly met by domestic production and the percentage share of import in consumption has been gradually declining for last three years,” steel minister Ram Chandra Prasad Singh said in a written reply in Lok Sabha on Monday.
The share of domestic production in consumption of steel has risen from 92.1% in 2018-19 to 93.2% in 2019-20, 95% in 2020-21 and 95.3% in the first three months of the current fiscal.
India produced 101.29 MT finished steel in 2018-19, 102.62 MT in 2019-20, 96.2 MT in 2020-21. In the April-June period of the current fiscal, India produced 26.23 MT finished steel.
