India is rapidly catching up with Japan in steel production

India has ranked third in the global steel production order since 2015, surpassing the United States.

During the first four months of this year, the difference in production between Japan and India narrowed to just 1.8 million tonnes. Over the same period last year, the gap was 3.64 tons, and in 2015 - 5.1 tons.

The gap is narrowing as production in India is growing at a faster pace than in Japan. While production in India grew by as much as 7.1% during the four months of this year, Japan's growth was only 1.9%.

In April, the growth of steel production in India outstripped Japan. During the month, production in India grew by 4.8%, in Japan by 3%. While production in India is on the rise, steel production in Japan has declined to 105 million tonnes last year from its peak of 111 million tonnes in 2014.

On the other hand, production in India climbed to 95 tons last year, up 7.4% over 2015. India's growth in steel production was the highest in the past year among major countries.

India's steelmaking capacity is 126 tonnes and is likely to reach 150 million tonnes by 2020 and the government is targeting 150 tonnes in the country over the next 10 years.