India’s biggest steelmaker is at it again. Having poured close to $12 billion over the past decade into its massive operation in the coal-rich eastern state of Odisha, Tata Steel commissioned what it calls the country’s biggest blast furnace in late September.
“With the Phase II expansion,” the company said in a statement, “Odisha has emerged as the largest investment destination in India for Tata Steel.”
The $3.2 billion project is to more than double capacity at the plant in Kalinganagar from 3 million tons per year to 8 million tons per year. Tata says the expansion also includes a pellet plant, coke plant and cold rolling mill, each incorporating state-of-the art technologies. What Tata calls the world’s largest Top Gas Recovery Turbine is one of several features the company installed to minimize energy and water usage.
“The expansion,” said T.V. Narendran, CEO and managing director, in a statement, “not only strengthens Tata Steel’s position as a leader in high-end, value-added steel segments but also showcases our advanced engineering prowess. It underscores,” he added, “our commitment to boosting private investment in India, aligning with the nation’s vision for self-reliance and sustainable industrial growth.”
As that statement suggests, Tata’s expansion is not taking place in a vacuum. Already the world’s second-largest steel producer, India has set ambitious targets for steel production to support what is the world’s fastest growing major economy, with GDP expected to grow by up to 7.2% in FY 2024-2025. Tata says the expanded plant capacity will meet the growing demands of India’s automotive, construction, energy, shipbuilding and defense sectors.
Overall, India’s crude steel production grew from 127 million tons in FY 2022-2023 to 145 million tons in 2023-2024, according to the country’s steel ministry. India’s National Steel Policy, adopted in 2017, aims to boost production to 300 million tons per year by 2030. The Indian Steel Association anticipates demand to grow by up to 10% annually for the near future.
India’s JSW, another top steelmaker, is among those going big to help meet the increasing demand. In February, JSW announced plans to invest $7.8 billion dollars in a crude steel complex, also in Odisha state. JSW, according to SteelRadar, expects to increase crude capacity from its current 30 million tons to 39 million tons. The complex is to include a cement grinding plant and, according to India’s Business Standard, an electric vehicle and battery plant to be built at a cost of $4.8 billion.
Also in February, Nikkei Asia reported that Japan’s Nippon Steel and Luxembourg-based ArcelorMittal are expanding their joint plant in Gujarat state on India’s west coast, acquired in 2019 for $5.7 billion. The AM/NS joint venture is reportedly investing $4.9 billion to build two new blast furnaces that will increase capacity by 50% to 15 million tons by 2026.
