According to the Steel Ministry, the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) plan for speciality steel will result in a capacity increase of 25 MT, new investments of almost Rs 40,000 crore, and the creation of 5.25 lakh jobs.
The government has approved the PLI plan for domestic speciality steel manufacturing with a budget of Rs 6,322 crore and has issued comprehensive instructions.
The Ministry of Steel highlighted its accomplishments in 2021, stating that cumulative capital expenditure (capex) by state-run steel businesses for April to November this fiscal year was Rs 5,781.1 crore, up 75.7 percent from the same period last year.
In addition, the Ministry has taken a number of steps to expand steel utilisation in the country’s diverse sectors.
In order to create designs for large span (30m, 35m, and 40m) steel-based bridges, it organised a committee of specialists from INSDAG, IITs, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), and industry experts.
“The capex for April-November, 2021 was 43.5% of the BE (Budget Estimate) target,” it said.
In August 2021, the Committee created in collaboration with the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas to develop a strategy for boosting domestically made steel in the oil and gas sector published its final report.
The Steel sector’s production performance during the first eight months of the current fiscal year has been quite encouraging, with cumulative crude steel production of 76.44 MT and finished steel production of 72.07 MT during April-November 2021 being higher than the same period in the previous three years.
“A Joint Working Group (JWG), having members from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (HUA), Ministry of Skill Development, Ministry of Steel, BIS, CPWD, Technical Institutions (IITs) and from Industry, has also been set up for fostering steel usage in Housing and Construction sector to develop standardized design and layouts of housing configurations with steel structure,” the Steel Ministry said.
As regards timely payment to MSMEs for their supplies, the Steel Ministry said that it is monitoring payments by public sector steel companies on a weekly basis.
“During April-November 2021, Steel CPSEs have made a payment of Rs 3,358.61 crore to MSMEs which is 64.5% higher than payment of Rs 2,041.61 crore made during CPLY (corresponding period last year),” it said.
“This improved performance was achieved despite the adverse effect of the second wave of COVID-19 and concomitant localised lockdowns,” the Ministry said.
