A background of the Indian Steel Industry

If we were to pause for a moment to think about the growth of human civilization, we would find that the pace of social and economic growth has been closely linked to the proficiency with which people have been able to use and shape materials.

Steel is one such material that has played an important role in the development of mankind in the last century. Today, it is difficult to imagine a world without steel. Steel has become vital to our everyday life. It is at the root of the quality of life that each of us enjoys today, helping to shelter us, to feed us and to facilitate both our working day and leisure activities. We depend on steel for almost everything from our houses and buildings, the cars we drive, roads, bridges, agricultural equipment, machines, the list is endless.

Steel is a versatile, constantly developing material that underpins all manufacturing activity. Even if a product is not made entirely from steel, it will undoubtedly have steel as a component at some point in the manufacturing process. There are currently more than 3,500 different grades of steel with many different properties - physical, chemical, environmental, 75% of which have been developed in the last 20 years. Steel is also an environment friendly material and has the distinction of being the most recycled material in the world today.

Today, consumption of steel is also regarded as an indicator of development of a nation. Per capita steel consumption is now universally accepted as an index of economic development of a nation. Given its role, steel has established itself as the backbone of any economy.