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The Ministry of Steel's review for April-July 2026 records crude steel production of 56.2 million tonnes, up 2.4 per cent over the corresponding period last year, with hot metal at 31.9 MT and finished steel at 54.7 MT.
Finished steel consumption for April-July 2026 reached 56.0 MT, a 7.9 per cent rise over the same period a year earlier and higher than finished steel production - the demand side of why India remained an importer.
India was a net importer of finished steel in quantity terms during April-July 2026: imports of 2,766.2 thousand tonnes (Rs 28,330.8 crore) against exports of 2,292.3 thousand tonnes (Rs 18,105.4 crore). China (30.9 per cent) and Korea (30.2 per cent) supplied over three-fifths of imports; Vietnam and the UAE were the largest export destinations.
Alloy steel production rose 26.7 per cent to 3,710.8 thousand tonnes for the period while stainless steel production fell 4.2 per cent to 1,375.6 thousand tonnes, with stainless steel imports up 111.4 per cent - the sharpest divergence in the data.
Under the Ministry's Green Steel Initiative, 98 steel producers across 15 states have received Green Steel Certificates, with most certified products achieving the highest 5-star rating. The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2026 was notified on 17 August 2026.
Make India a globally competitive steel producer and raise domestic steel consumption, which was far below world averages.
Key: Targets for 2030-31: crude steel capacity of 300 MT, production of 255 MT and per capita finished steel consumption of 158 kg (against about 61 kg when the policy was framed). It also seeks to cut coking coal imports and turn India into a net exporter of steel, and estimated a capital requirement of about Rs 10 lakh crore.
Shift domestic production up the value chain into the grades India currently imports, and cut import dependence by attracting fresh capital investment.
Key: Notified by the Ministry of Steel on 29 July 2021 with a budgetary outlay of Rs 6,322 crore for five years, covering five product categories - coated/plated steel products, high-strength and wear-resistant steel, specialty rails, alloy steel products and steel wires, and electrical steel.
Give India a formal, verifiable definition of 'green steel' so that low-emission steel can be identified, certified and preferred in public procurement.
Key: Released by the Ministry of Steel in December 2024 - the first such national taxonomy anywhere. Steel qualifies as green only below 2.2 tonnes of CO2-equivalent per tonne of finished steel, with a star rating above that threshold. The release records 98 producers across 15 states holding Green Steel Certificates.
Strengthen raw material security for the steel sector by improving the investment climate for mining and enhancing domestic availability of key minerals including iron ore.
Key: Notified on 17 August 2026, after being introduced in Lok Sabha on 10 August 2026 and passed by both Houses on 13 August 2026. It extends Union regulatory control to mineral-bearing lands and, through a new Section 9D, bars states from levying any tax or cess on mineral rights or mineral-bearing lands except as prescribed by the Central Government.
Accelerate adoption of digital technologies across the steel and mining sector by bringing together industry leaders, CPSEs, start-ups and technology providers.
Key: A monthly series whose first webinar was held on 21 August 2026.
| Rating | Emission intensity (tonnes CO2e per tonne of finished steel) | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 5-star green-rated | Below 1.6 | The highest band; most products certified under the Green Steel Initiative sit here |
| 4-star green-rated | 1.6 to 2.0 | Middle band |
| 3-star green-rated | 2.0 to 2.2 | Lowest band that still qualifies as green steel |
| Not green steel | 2.2 and above | 2.2 tCO2e per tonne of finished steel is the cut-off defining green steel; thresholds are to be reviewed every three years |
The source of the production and trade data in this release. Constituted in 1964 under Clause 17B of the Iron & Steel (Control) Order, 1956, following the recommendations of the Dr K.N. Raj Committee. Originally it framed guidelines for production, allocation, pricing and distribution of iron and steel; after the sector was deregulated in 1992 it became a facilitator. It is the only institution officially empowered by the Ministry of Steel to collect and report data on the Indian iron and steel industry, and is the designated Primary Agency for iron and steel data under the Collection of Statistics Act, 2008.
A Maharatna central public sector enterprise under the Ministry of Steel and the first of the Top 7 producers listed. Hindustan Steel Limited was set up on 19 January 1954 and SAIL was incorporated on 24 January 1973 as the holding company for its plants. It runs integrated steel plants at Bhilai, Bokaro, Durgapur, Rourkela and Burnpur, along with special steel plants including Salem and Bhadravati.
A Navratna public sector enterprise under the Ministry of Steel, incorporated in 1958, and the single largest producer of iron ore in India. It supplies the Bailadila iron ore whose prices the release tracks, and operates the Kirandul and Bacheli complexes in Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh and the Donimalai complex at Ballari in Karnataka. Its 2.0 MTPA iron ore beneficiation plant at Bacheli has begun trial operations.
A steel-making entity demerged from NMDC and listed among the Top 7 producers in this release; it has signed a Memorandum of Agreement with MECON for consultancy services on its upcoming projects, aimed at capacity expansion and technological advancement.
Publisher of the Baltic Dry Index, the daily freight-cost index for dry bulk shipping that the release tracks as a proxy for the cost of moving iron ore, coal and other raw materials. The index is a composite of Capesize, Panamax and Supramax timecharter averages.
Hot metal is molten iron tapped from a blast furnace after iron ore is reduced with coke - it is still high in carbon and is not yet steel. Crude steel is what emerges once that carbon is burnt off in a converter, or once scrap and sponge iron are melted in an electric furnace; it is cast into semi-finished shapes such as slabs, blooms and billets. Finished steel is the rolled product a buyer actually uses - TMT bars, hot-rolled and cold-rolled coil, galvanised sheet, plates, wire rods, pipes. This is why hot metal (31.9 MT) is far below crude steel (56.2 MT) in the April-July 2026 data: a large part of India's crude steel never passes through a blast furnace at all, coming instead from the electric and induction furnace route using scrap and sponge iron. It also explains why the public sector's share of hot metal, at 30.0 per cent, is roughly double its share of crude steel at 15.8 per cent - the older integrated public sector plants are blast-furnace based, while much of the private secondary sector is not.
Simple Analogy: Hot metal is the dough, crude steel is the unshaped loaf, finished steel is the sliced bread on the shelf. Counting all three separately tells you where in the bakery the work is being done.
India's steel geography follows its iron ore. Odisha holds the largest share of the country's haematite resources - roughly a third of the national total - followed by Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, with Karnataka and Goa also significant. This is the belt along the north-eastern Deccan and the Chhotanagpur plateau, and it is why SAIL's integrated plants sit at Bhilai (Chhattisgarh), Rourkela (Odisha), Bokaro and Burnpur, and why NMDC's Bailadila deposits at Kirandul and Bacheli lie in Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh. Manganese ore, priced in the release through MOIL, comes largely from the Nagpur-Bhandara belt of Maharashtra and adjoining Madhya Pradesh. The steel price averages in the release are drawn from four metro markets - Kolkata, Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai.
Steel is one of the eight core industries whose combined index feeds the IIP; its monthly output is therefore an input into headline industrial growth data.
The PMI reading of 53.5 for July 2026 that the release cites is compiled by S&P Global; a reading above 50 signals expansion in manufacturing and below 50 signals contraction.
The European Union's carbon border levy targets carbon-intensive imports including steel, which is a large part of why India moved first with a national Green Steel Taxonomy and a certification system.
The MMDR Amendment Act, 2026's bar on state levies over mineral rights follows a long constitutional contest between the Union and mineral-bearing states over who may tax mining.
GS Paper 3 > Indian Economy > Infrastructure and Core Industries; Industrial Policy
General Awareness > Indian Economy and Industry
General Awareness > Indian Economy, Static GK on PSUs and Mineral Distribution
Read the following statements carefully and choose the correct option: Assertion (A): Iron and steel is considered a heavy industry. Reason (R): It requires lightweight raw materials like cotton and rubber.
Answer: A is true, but R is false
Steel-sector data appears in the monthly PIB stream; the National Steel Policy targets, India's second rank in crude steel and Odisha's iron ore primacy are perennial static facts.
Steel in its first solid form after refining - cast as slabs, blooms or billets, before rolling into finished products.
Molten iron tapped from a blast furnace, still carrying high carbon content; the input to the converter route of steelmaking.
Corresponding Period Last Year - the comparison basis used for the April-July growth percentages in the release.
Under India's 2024 taxonomy, steel produced with emission intensity below 2.2 tonnes of CO2-equivalent per tonne of finished steel, rated 3 to 5 stars.
A daily dry-bulk shipping freight index published by the Baltic Exchange, London, composed of Capesize, Panamax and Supramax timecharter averages.