Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday asked the Indian steel sector to target zero imports and emerge as a net exporter, terming the industry the backbone of the nation's vision for a developed India, or Viksit Bharat.

Speaking at the India Steel 2025 conference virtually, the Prime Minister laid out an ambitious vision for the industry, saying that India needed to develop a steel manufacturing capacity of 500 million tonnes by 2047, consistent with national development objectives.

"Behind each success story in India, there is steel industry," says PM Modi. "The steel industry is giving a big contribution to India's race to becoming a $5 trillion economy".

Govt projects utilize only 'Made-in-India' steel

He pointed out that large government projects such as PM Gati Shakti and PM Awas Yojana are already heavily increasing demand for steel while guaranteeing infrastructure and housing development throughout the nation. He added that all government projects are now required to utilize only made-in-India steel.
PM Modi also appealed to the public and private sectors to invest in research, development, and innovation, and said the sector has to be "future-ready" in order to stay competitive on the international front.

"India's steel industry is on the threshold of a new era", he added, calling on stakeholders to develop ideas that can transform manufacturing and enhance India's position in the international steel market.

India: A high importer of steel

India was still a net importer of steel, with imports increasing 20 per cent to 8.29 million tonnes in April 2024-January 2025, as previously reported by Business Standard. Compared to last year, the nation imported 6.89 million tonnes during the same period.
Imports of finished steel amounted to 8.292 million tonnes, up by a 20.3 per cent year-on-year rise. On the other hand, exports fell by 28.9 per cent to 3.994 million tonnes compared to 5.619 million tonnes in the last fiscal year.

Industry stakeholders have complained about the increasing imports, especially from nations such as China, arguing that they impact domestic competitiveness.

India imposes safeguard duty on steel imports

Earlier this week, India also imposed a 12 per cent safeguard duty on steel imports for 200 days to protect its domestic industry.

The action came while there were fears that China could flood the country with cheap imports of steel. The fears follow the US putting a 145 percent tax on Chinese imports. As trade tensions between the US and China escalate, India fears it would be the country to receive the surplus steel of China.