Stellar show

India has moved up two notches and is now the fifth-largest producer of steel in the world. The Union Ministry of Steel recently revised figures that put crude steel output for 2006 at 49.45 million tonne, against 44 million tonne reported earlier.

This figure, validated by the International Iron and Steel Institute (IISI), is 10 per cent higher than the ouput of 45 million tonne in 2005. India is now placed above South Korea (48.4 million tonne) and Germany (47.2 million tonne), according to IISI figures.

Moreover, the industry is seen growing from strength to strength. Says Moosa Raza, President, Indian Steel Alliance, an association of Indian steel producers: “If we take into account the expansion plans of major Indian producers, then, in another five years the total capacity will increase to 80 million tonne.”