India’s steel consumption, including export, could reach 132 million tonnes (mt) in FY24 if the country can continue with the momentum witnessed in the last fiscal, Union minister of state for steel Faggan Singh Kulaste said.

Speaking at the inauguration of a three-day conference named India Steel 2023 in Mumbai on Wednesday, the minister said steel consumption grew 11 per cent to reach 119mt in FY23.

“We may expect the growth momentum to continue with the emphasis of developing the infrastructure of the country,” Kulaste said at the conference. In FY22, consumption stood at 105mt.

The growth, cited by the minister, comes despite the sharp drop in export after India imposed a duty with effect from May 22, 2022 to tackle soaring inflation.

The duty, meant to increase availability of steel in the domestic market and temper prices, was subsequently withdrawn on November 19, 2022.

Speaking before Kulaste, the Union minister for steel Jyotiraditya M. Scindia said the steel ministry has recently signed 57 MoUs with 27 companies for speciality steel under product linked incentive scheme.

The PLI scheme, which is expected to generate an investment of about Rs 30,000 crore and create additional capacity of about 25mt of speciality steel in the next five years, will create 60,000 jobs, he said.

The ministry is in the process of aligning its policy with the national logistics plan of the government, under which investments of Rs 100 lakh crore are envisaged, Scindia said.