India can do without US steel exports, says Naveen Jindal; flags domestic demand as key growth driver

India can sustain its steel industry without relying on exports to the United States, as its large domestic market offers sufficient scope for growth, Jindal Steel Chairman and Member of Parliament Naveen Jindal said on Monday. He added that higher US tariffs would have a limited impact on Indian steel producers.

Speaking to the media on the sidelines of the 53rd National Management Convention 2026, Jindal said Indian steel products had faced high tariffs in the US market for more than a decade.

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"A lot of products in steel already have more than 200% tariff for more than a decade. So US could put 100% or 200% on steel. It doesn't help. Even with 50%, when it was 50%, we were not exporting any steel to the US. So India is a very big market in itself and we can do without USA," he said.

The remarks come as the US continues to impose an additional 50% tariff on most imported steel products under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act.

Jindal said India's infrastructure development and relatively low per-capita steel consumption could support further growth in the domestic steel industry.

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"So steel per capita consumption is still quite low. It's just about 107 kg per person per annum compared to world average which is more than 220. So there's a huge scope to grow," he said.

According to an August 2026 press release by the Ministry of Steel, India's finished steel consumption increased 7.9% year-on-year to 56 million tonnes during April-July 2026. Crude steel production stood at 56.2 million tonnes during the period.

The National Steel Policy 2017 envisages crude steel production capacity of 300 million tonnes and actual production of 255 million tonnes by 2030-31, the ministry has said.

Indian steelmakers must comply with EU rules

On the European Union's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), Jindal said Indian steel companies would have to follow the rules applicable to products entering the European market.

"If they have put these conditions on their own producers, right? So obviously they will put these conditions on imports also. So they cannot disadvantage their own industry. So we understand that and whatever their rules are, you know, we have to play by those rules," he said.

Jindal backs domestic coal gasification

Jindal also highlighted the need to reduce India's dependence on imported natural gas by increasing the use of domestic coal gasification.

"Obviously a lot of natural gas is required by many industries and so we worked on coal gasification and that's why government is also encouraging gasification of domestic coal," he said.

According to a July 2026 press release by the Ministry of Coal, around 22.6 million tonnes per annum of coal gasification capacity was operational or under implementation in India. This included about 8 million tonnes per annum of operational capacity at Jindal Steel Limited.

On green steel, Jindal said steel producers were taking steps to lower their emissions.

"Every steel maker is working on reducing their emissions and we all feel it's our duty to do that and everybody is working on achieving that," he said.