India's steel industry growing while global output falls: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

New Delhi: India's steel industry is expanding even as global output declines, with domestic demand supported by infrastructure spending keeping pace with production, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Monday, highlighting the country's growing role in the global steel market.

Speaking at the World Steel Association's (Worldsteel) General Assembly here, Sitharaman said India raised crude steel output by 10% in 2025 to 165 million tonnes and by 6% in January-August 2026, even as world output declined. India's share of world steel production has risen to about 9% from 5.2% in 2014, she added. Demand has expanded alongside production, making India the fastest-growing major steel market in the world, with a public investment programme and a green steel framework in place, the finance minister said.

Finished steel consumption in the country more than doubled over a decade to 164 million tonnes in FY26. For two successive years, consumption has exceeded production, she added. Sitharaman invited Worldsteel to "consider establishing an office in India" to strengthen its presence in the country. Investments in infrastructure such as railway, national highways, ports and high-speed rail networks create sustained demand for steel across construction, transport, energy and industrial infrastructure, she said.


The task is to ensure that the growth in steel production is matched by advances in raw-material security, specialised manufacturing, technological sophistication, and environmental performance, the finance minister said.

"Small modular reactors, being developed under our Nuclear Energy Mission, also hold promise for the steel sector," she said. As these technologies mature and are deployed, they can provide reliable, round-the-clock, low-carbon electricity, complementing renewable energy and supporting the steel industry's decarbonisation, Sitharaman said. A practical priority is to expand scrap-based steelmaking and use renewable electricity to power it, she said.