India exported finished steel worth Rs 1 lakh crore in 2021-22: Minister

India exported 13.5 million tonnes of finished steel amounting to Rs 1 lakh crore during the financial year ended March 2022, Union Minister of State for Steel and Rural Development Faggan Singh Kulaste said on Tuesday.

During the financial year 2021-22, India imported steel worth Rs 46,000 crore, which is less than half of the total export from the country during the year.

Addressing a conference on Steel and Engineering exports, Kulaste said India's steel sector, both in terms of external trade as well as domestic production and consumption, registered record performance notwithstanding the COVID-19 challenges.

Domestic consumption of steel in India rose to a record high of 106 million tonnes during 2021-22 while the production during the year rose to 120 million tonnes.

Kulaste pointed out that the Centre has come out with a Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme to produce speciality steel.

With our government's policy announcements and changes in global supply-demand equations across sectors including railways, roads, aviation, gas pipelines, and housing, the sector is expected to witness significant growth in the coming years due to an increase in investment in infrastructure and industrial production, the Ministry of Steel said in a release.

The minister advised steel firms to reduce the cost of production of steel by adopting the latest technology and said the sector must be ready to face the challenges for steel making from alternative materials.

( With inputs from ANI )