The Indian iron and steel industry is nearly a century old with Tata Iron & Steel Co. (Tata Steel) being the first integrated steel plant to be set up in 1907. In such a short span of time, there has been tremendous growth in this sector. Today, there are numerous steel manufacturers, stainless steel, mild steel, metal suppliers, building material manufacturers and suppliers etc. that consitute the steel industry of India. The Indian steel industry consists of manufacturers, exporters and suppliers of Iron ore, Pig Iron, Sponge Iron, Flat steel products, Long products and Alloy Steel products. A major part of the steel is consumed and used by manufacturers, exporters and suppliers in engineering, automobiles, construction & building and metal industries.

There are nearly 160 medium/mini steel plants, manufacturers, exporters and suppliers in the private sector, with a production capacity of about 7.3 million MTPA of steel by the Direct-Reduced Iron and Electric-Arc Furnace (DRI-EAF) process. A third tier of about 550 small units, using arc/induction furnaces to melt steel scrap, produces a total of 1.5 million MTPA of steel castings and other items. Although the grand total of 24.9 million MTPA places India among the top ten producers and suppliers of steel in the world, the per capita steel production of only 26 Kg is much below the world average of 150 Kg.

Over the last few years the performance of the Indian steel industry has been adversely affected due to overcapacity, cheap imports, economic slowdown, declining global steel prices and also anti dumping duty imposed by USA on Indian exports.

Of late there has been some revival in the automobile sector. The demand for two-wheelers, passenger cars and HCV segment are witnessing a recovery. This recovery in the automobile sector is expected to benefit the steel industry. The government is also talking about pump priming the economy. Any step up in government expenditure on infrastructure projects is also likely to benefit the steel sector.