Top steel firms to foray into specialty steel | Economic Times

In an endorsement for the government’s Productivity-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for speciality steel, India’s top six steelmakers are set to produce speciality steel within the first year of the announcement of this scheme, Union steel minister RCP Singh told ET.“The scheme has been designed with input from the industry, and the top six companies will soon enter the speciality steel sector. Six top companies – including 4 international and 2 domestic players - will enter in (producing speciality steel) the first year itself,” Singh said.Singh said that there is a huge demand for speciality steel in the country, and the scheme has been designed to benefit all segments of the steel sector.“All of them -integrated steel mills, secondary steel mills and MSMEs in the sector - will benefit from the scheme. This is a demand-driven scheme, and there is a huge demand for speciality steel,” he added.Last week, the Union cabinet approved the PLI scheme with a planned outlay of ₹6,322 crore over a period of five years. The scheme is expected to bring in investment of approximately ₹40,000 crore and will result in employment for about 525,000 people, of which 68,000 will be direct employment, the minister said.The scheme covers coated/plated steel products, high strength/wear-resistant steel, speciality rails, alloy steel products, steel wires and electrical steel. “We produce around 10 mt of speciality steel, but we also import around 3-4 mt of steel used for special purposes like warships, submarines, rails and more. This scheme will open a different opportunity for steel players,” said VR Sharma, managing director of Jindal Steel and Power. Indian Steel Association said that Cabinet’s decision to approve the PLI scheme for Specialty Steel would play a pivotal role in enabling growth by promoting investments for the steel industry. “We are confident that this milestone will also strengthen Governments’ vision of building a true ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat, which in turn will go a long way in accentuating India’s overall economic growth,” said Bhaskar Chatterjee, secretary, General Indian Steel Association.