Bhubaneswar: Odisha has turned out to be in the forefront of the States so far Crude Steel production is concerned and is improving its position continuously.
While Jharkhand was frontrunner so far Crude Steel production is concerned during 2017-18, Odisha has been outsmarting the State since 2018-19.
While in 2017-18, Odisha had produced 1, 69, 68,000 Tons of Crude Steel, Jharkhand produced 1,71,13,000 Ton.
However Jharkhand was able to produce 1,72,38,000 Ton in 2018-19, while Odisha produced 1,92,99,000 Tons in 2018-19.
Similarly Odisha produced 2, 02,53,000 Tons of Crude Steel, while Jharkhand was lagging with 1,72,09,000 Tons of production of Crude Steel.
Odisha during the period of April-February 2020-21 has produced 1,94,44,000 Tons of Crude Steel, while Jharkhand has been able to produce 1, 41,66,000 Tons of Crude Steel.
Among the all regions of the country, Eastern Region is performing much better than the others.
Eastern Region in 2020-21 has produced 4,03,43,000 Tons, while Western Region has been able to produce 2,74,78,000 Tons, Northern Region with 62,45,000 Tons and Southern Region produced 1,90,39,000 Tons of Crude Steel.
And Odisha continues to be largest producer of Crude Steel Production in the country.
In fact Odisha will be producing 100 Million Tons of Steel by 2030 as per the latest estimates is concerned because the State is attracting huge investment in Steel Sector.
National Steel Policy envisages production of 300 Million Ton Steel by 2030.
According to Vision 2030, Development of Downstream Units in Metal Sector envisages to achieve more than 50 Percent value addition to the primary metal produced in the State.
Presence of Major Steel Makers like SAIL, TATA Steel, JSL, VISA Steel, MESCO and AMNS India will improve Odisha position in Crude Steel production.
In the meantime, Ministry of Steel, Government of India has initiated the formation of “Purvodaya” as an integrated Steel Hub encompassing Odisha, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal and Northern Andhra Pradesh. IDCO has identified 500 Acre land in Kalinga Nagar for Kalinga Nagar Steel Cluster.
India produced 9,31,05,000 Tons of Crude Steel during 2020-21, which was 10,91,37,000 Tons during 2019-20, said Dharmendra Pradhan in a written reply in Lok Sabha here on 22 March.
While Crude Steel production in the country is on rise, import of finished steel is coming down.
During 2017-18, country imported 74,83,000 Tons of Finished Steel, during 2018-19 India went for 78,35,000 Tons of Finished Steel Import, which went down in 2019-20 to 67,68,000 Tons and it further went down to 42,52,000 Tons in 2020-21.
Export of Finished Steel from India is on rise as in 2018-19 it was 63,61,000 Tons, which went up to 83,55,000 Tons in 2019-20 and it further went up to 94,92,000 Tons in 2020-21.