India needs to produce high grade steel for greater self-sufficiency: Pradhan

Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan stressed on Thursday the need to produce high-grade steel for greater self-sufficiency. Inaugurating the 57th National Metallurgists Day at nearby Kovalam, the minister of petroleum, natural gas, and steel appealed to the delegates to embrace the challenge of producing high-grade steel for greater self-sufficiency.

He urged them to work towards greater sustainability in the steel sector and contribute towards the creation of an Indian model of a green economy. The government was working to create a world-class facility for metallurgical engineering and development of human resources for the steel sector.

"Metals, including steel continue to play a vital role in the building of a modern economy. There is a strong positive correlation between steel usage and a nation's economic growth," he said. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India was on a steady path to become a USD 5 Trillion economy, he said.

"The country was amid the Industrial Revolution driven by digitization, automation, big data, artificial intelligence and Internet of Things. It will fundamentally alter the way we live and work. Steel sector too must be future-ready to embrace the change and leverage innovation for achieving this quantum leap," he said.

The decision to cut corporate tax and to opt-out of RCEP in its present form has been received well by all stakeholders of the economy, the minister said. The steel sector will have a key role to play in the making of a New India envisioned by the Prime Minister.

The next trajectory of growth, fuelled by the Government's key focus on building infrastructure for the future, creating smart cities, industrial corridors and so forth will further boost steel consumption, he added. Backed by entrepreneurial spirit of the industry and the policy measures taken by the Government, the Indian steel industry is becoming more vibrant, competitive and environment-friendly, he said.

The National steel policy has been formulated to create a more self-sufficient and globally competitive steel industry with a crude steel capacity of 300 MT by 2030. Domestically Manufactured Iron & Steel Product policy seeks to accomplish the vision of Make in India in the steel sector by providing preference to domestically manufactured products in government procurement.

Recently the government has also come up with a Steel Scrap policy which aims to promote a circular economy in the steel sector, he said. Though India has risen to the world's second-largest crude steel producer, the per capita steel consumption was much lower than the global average.

Pointing out that there is huge potential that can be achieved, he urged the industry to spread the message for promoting appropriate usage of steel in the country by highlighting factors such as increased resilience in structures and environmental friendliness. The minister also distributed the National Metallurgical Day Awards and Indian Institute of Metals Awards.

Dr. P V Venkitakrishnan Director, CBPO, ISRO HQ & Chairman, Core Organising Committee, presided. The minister also visited the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre of ISRO here and witnessed the 2412th launch of the RH200 sounding rocket from the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launch Station (TERLS) and visited the Space museum.

VSSC Director S Somanath elaborated on the activities of VSSC to the minister, a press release said.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)