Steelmakers in India have welcomed a newly approved Production Linked Incentive (PLI) program for the specialty steel sector to encourage domestic production, new investment and reduce imports.
The South Asian country's Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on July approved the PLI program for specialty steel in a push for a self-reliant India, a policy known as "Atmanirbhar Bharat." The program will run from the country's 2023-2024 fiscal year to 2027-2028, with a budgetary outlay of incentives worth 63.22 billion rupees ($849.8 million). The Indian government expects the program to bring in investments of 400 billion rupees and increase specialty steel capacity by 25 million tonnes. The government identified the segment for the program due to its small proportion in the country's steel sector. Only 18 million tonnes of value-added steel/specialty steel were produced in India in 2020-2021, out of 102 million tonnes of steel produced in in the country during the period.And out of 6.7 million tonnes of steel imports in the same year,...