India is ready for foreign investment in metallurgy

India's new steel projects will boost steel production capacity to 150 million tonnes by 2020. The sector has tremendous growth potential as the country becomes the second largest steel producer in the world with increasing domestic consumption.

Foreign players such as Posco, ArcelorMittal and Thyssenkrupp are present in the country. Posco and Thyssenkrupp set up divisions in Maharashtra to produce value-added auto parts, but they did not go into production of rolled steel.

ArcelorMittal has a joint venture with state-owned steel producer SAIL. Senior industry officials said: "We are confident that our steel production capacity will increase from the current 134 million to 150 million by 2020."

The industry is about to adopt new technologies to reduce the use of coking coal in steel production. “We must adopt a new technology to reduce the use of coking coal in steel production, as India and most Asian countries do not have large coking coal reserves,” the statement said.

Various options are being considered, including the use of scrap metal for steel production. “We are importing 7 million tonnes of scrap to make steel now, so there is a current market of 7 million tonnes, which is why the government will come up with a new waste management policy this year.”