India’s steel giants to join forces for global deals, raw materials & tech

New Delhi: India is formulating a framework to bring together the country's public and private sector steelmakers to jointly seek raw materials, technology and export opportunities globally, a move that will equip the industry with better bargaining power during deal discussions.

The proposed international comprehensive cooperation framework, being spearheaded by the steel ministry, can help both the public and private sectors with sourcing coking coal and seeking technology transfer at competitive terms, union steel secretary Sandeep Poundrik told ET. He said the ministry is also readying the third leg of the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for specialty steel.

The partnership will ensure steel companies don't approach global deals in isolation, Poundrik said, adding: "A group of Indian companies can better negotiate terms."


The focus will be on four pillars: raw material, investments, technology and exports, he added.

Destinations Lined Up

"We will be signing agreements. The steel ministry, public sector undertakings and private companies will together be going to countries," said Poundrik.

India is eyeing partnerships with Australia, Russia and South Africa for diversification of its coking coal sourcing. The country met more than half of its coking coal requirement from Australia in fiscal 2024.

It is also exploring a deal with Mozambique for sourcing manganese, a key feedstock for steelmaking.

India, among the world's largest importers of manganese, meets more than half of its 8 million tonne annual manganese requirement through imports. India also imports nearly 85% of the 70 million tonnes of coking coal it consumes annually.

Poundrik said India is eyeing Germany, Italy and Japan for technology transfer, and the Middle Eastern nations for boosting steel exports through this cooperation agreement. The government is also likely to help Indian steel players through the cooperation agreement to explore export opportunities in new markets such as the UAE.

Make in India

To further boost domestic production of specialty steel, the government under the third iteration of the PLI specialty steel scheme, aims to draw investments for production facilities that can be operationalised within two years.

"The third leg of PLI specialty steel will incentivise production that requires lesser investments and that can get converted to production within two years," said Poundrik.

The third phase would cover the same steel grades that are already under PLI 1.1, such as coated steel products, high-strength steel and specialty rails.