ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I extend my gratitude to Mr. D.K. Singh, Head of Department, Management,

Aligarh College of Engineering and Technology, Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, for
providing me with excellent infrastructure and awesome environment that laid
potentially strong foundation for my professional life. I am really grateful for
this project opportunity and would sincerely thank Dr. Roshan Sheikh for
trusting me with this project. He has proved to be a guiding light in my entire
journey and his valuable insight has helped me improve and make this project
a success. Besides this, I would like to express my gratitude towards the lab
staff members to provide us with the correct equipment needed to fulfil this
project.

SHIVAM AGRAWAL

1
 TABLE OF CONTENT

CHAPTER 1 PAGE NO.

 INTRODUCTION 3
 MARKET SIZE AND MARKET CAPITALIZATION 4
 VARIATIONS IN STEEL INDUSTRY 7
 TECHNOLOGIES FOR THE STEEL INDUSTRY 8
 KEY PLAYERS IN INDIA 12
 FUTURE GROWTH 15
 SWOT ANALYSIS 16
 GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES 18
CHAPTER 2
 ISSUES AND CHALLENGES 20
CHAPTER 3
 EMERGING STEEL TECHNOLOGIES TRENDS 23
CHAPTER 4
 WORKING OF TECHNOLOGY IN STEEL INDUSTRY 24
CHAPTER 5
 CONCLUSION 26

2
CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

The steel industry in India is among the most important industries within the
country. India surpassed Japan as the second top steel producer in January
2019. As per worldsteel, India's crude steel production in 2018 was at 106.5
tonnes (MT), 4.9% increase from 101.5 MT in 2017, means that India overtook
Japan as the world's second largest steel production country. Japan produced
104.3 MT in year 2018, decrease of 0.3% compared to year 2017. Industry
produced 82.68 million tons of total finished steel and 9.7 million tons of raw
iron. Most iron and steel in India is produced from the iron ore.

Policy for the sector is governed by the Indian Ministry of Steel, which
concerns itself with coordinating and planning the growth and development of
the iron and steel industry, both in the public and private sectors; formulation
of policies concerning production, pricing, distribution, import and export of
iron and steel, ferro alloys and refractories; and the development of input
industries relating to iron ore, manganese ore, chrome ore and refractories,
etc., required mainly by the steel industry.

Most of the public sector undertakings market their steel through the Steel
Authority of India (SAIL). The Indian steel industry was de-licensed and de-
controlled in 1991 and 1992 respectively.

3
 MARKET SIZE
JSPL MD V R Sharma said, “The domestic steel industry will have a very good
run in 2022-23. There will be healthy demand and surge in exports. Profitability
will be good. Whether the price can be maintained at the current level will be
decided by how the input costs will behave. But there may not be a margin
erosion in 2022-23,” he said.

India’s crude steel production stood at 118 million tonne (MT) in 2021-22, up
from 104 MT in 2020-21. This is likely to go up to 130 MT in 2022-23. While
domestic consumption is likely to go up by 7-8%, export volume will go up to
around 20% of the production in FY23 from around 12% in FY22. During April-
February, India exported around 13 MT steel while its imports were 4.3 MT.

In recent years, India has become a net exporter of steel as India’s steel
imports have been much lower than imports since FY11. Domestic production
of specialty steel was able to meet 85 percent of India’s demand in FY21, with
the balance met through imports. Significant portion of steel import was of
specialty steel comprising high grade alloy steel and specialty steel. Even
though India is the second largest steel producer worldwide, specialty steel
accounts for only 18 percent share of exports in FY21.

As of 2020, the usage of finished steel stood at 1,772 MT globally and China
(56.2 percent), India (5 per cent), Japan (3 per cent) and other Asian countries
(9.1 per cent) were key consumers with a combined share of around 64 per
cent.

As of October 2021, India was the world's second-largest producer of crude

steel, with an output of 9.8 MT. In FY22 (till January), the production of crude
steel and finished steel stood at 98.39 MT and 92.82 MT, respectively. In FY22,
crude steel production in India is estimated to increase by 18%, to reach 120
million tonnes, driven by rising demand from customers. The growth in the
Indian steel sector has been driven by the domestic availability of raw
materials such as iron ore and cost-effective labour. Consequently, the steel
sector has been a major contributor to India's manufacturing output.

4
 MARKET CAPITALIZATION
Market capitalization is the aggregate valuation of the company based on its
current share price and the total number of outstanding stocks. It is calculated
by multiplying the current market price of the company's share with the total
outstanding shares of the company.

Market capitalization is one of the most important characteristics that helps

the investor determine the returns and the risk in the share. It also helps the
investors choose the stock that can meet their risk and diversification criterion.

For instance, a company has 20 million outstanding shares and the current
market price of each share is Rs100. Market capitalization of this company will
be 200,00,000 x 100=Rs 200 crore.

Stocks of companies are of three types. The stocks with a market cap of Rs
10,000 crore or more are large cap stocks. Company stocks with a market cap
between Rs 2 crore and 10 crore are mid cap stocks and those less than Rs 2
crore market cap are small cap stocks.

JSW Steel is the biggest steel stock in India with a market capitalisation of Rs
1,59,923 crore (March 12, 2022). In the last one year, the stock has rallied by
nearly 54%. The second biggest steel stock in India is Tata Steel Ltd. Its market
capitalisation is a mammoth Rs 1,57,206 crore. This steel stock has also had a
stellar year as it is up by almost 75% (as of March 12, 2022). And the story
continues for a majority of other steel stocks. This is despite a lockdown, which
had paralysed the construction business. Yet, the demand for steel and steel
stocks were at its peak.

Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) on Tuesday regained market capitalisation

(m-cap) of Rs 50,000 crore, after its stock climbed over 80 per cent in the past
one and half month, on expectations of strong earnings in March quarter
(Q4FY21) and a healthy outlook going forward.

5
The state-owned steel major also entered into the league of top 100 most
valued companies in terms of market capitalisation. At 10:19 am, SAIL stood at
78th position in the overall m-cap ranking with a market cap of Rs 55,529
crore, BSE data shows.

In the intra-day today, the stock hit an over nine-year high of Rs 135.60, up 6
per cent, on the BSE. In the past six weeks, it has zoomed 85 per cent, as
compared to a 2.6 per cent decline in the S&P BSE Sensex. It was trading at its
highest level since July 2011.

SAIL is one of the leading steel producers in India, which has 5 large integrated
steel plants (Bhillai steel plant, Rourkela steel plant, Durgapur steel plant,
Bokaro steel plant and IISCO) spread across 4 states in eastern India
(Chattisgarh, Odisha, West Bengal and Jharkhand). In addition, SAIL also has 3
special steel plants (Salem Steel plant, Alloy Steel plant and Visvesvaraya iron
and steel plant) and a Ferro Alloy plant at Chandrapur.

For the first nine months (April to December) of fiscal 2020-21 (9MFY21), SAIL
had posted a consolidated profit after tax of Rs 406 crore as against loss of Rs
704 crore during the same period of FY20.

In Q4FY21, SAIL had recorded its best-ever quarterly performance, both, in

terms of production and sales. FY21 sales volume was at 14.87 MT compared
with 14.23 MT in FY20, a growth of 4.4 per cent YoY, and was its best-ever
annual sales volume during the financial year 2020-21 (FY21).

6
 VARIATIONS IN STEEL
INDUSTRY
Authorities grade and categorize steel types into four groups—Carbon, Alloy,
Stainless, and Tool.

Carbon steels only contain trace amounts of elements besides carbon and iron.
This group is the most popular of the four grades of steel and it accounts for
90% of steel production. Carbon Steel has three main subgroups depending on
how much carbon is in the metal: Low Carbon Steels/Mild Steels (up to 0.3%
carbon), Medium Carbon Steels (0.3–0.6% carbon), and High Carbon Steels
(more than 0.6% carbon).

Alloy steels are created by adding additional alloying elements like nickel,
copper, chromium, and/or aluminium. Incorporating these elements enhances
the steel's strength, ductility, corrosion resistance, and machinability.

Stainless steels contain 10-20% chromium as their alloying element, as well as

other elements such as nickel, silicon, manganese, and carbon. These steels
have remarkably high corrosion resistance and are safe to use in outside
construction because they have an increased ability to withstand rough
weather. They are also widely utilized in electrical equipment. 304 Stainless
Steel, for example, is highly sought after for its ability to withstand the
elements while keeping electrical material out of harm's way.

Tool steels, as you can probably guess by the name, excel in cutting and drilling
equipment. The secret is the tungsten, molybdenum, cobalt, and vanadium
that increase their heat resistance and overall durability. And since they retain
their shape under heavy usage, they're the go-to material for most hand tools.

7
 TECHNOLOGIES FOR STEEL
INDUSTRY
The basic steel production in the steel industry, processes are based on three
steps which are raw material preparation, iron making then steelmaking. All
these processes can be ended with many different types of steels for specific
needs.

Methods for fabrication in the steel industry have advanced essentially since
industrial production began in the late 19th century. Current techniques are as
yet dependent on the similar fundamental ground as the first Bessemer
Process , which uses oxygen to bring down the carbon content in iron.

The iron making step includes the crude feeds of iron metal, coke, and lime
being melted in a blast furnace. Additionally, the final liquid iron still contains
4-4.5 percent carbon and different pollutions that make it fragile.

Steelmaking has two essential techniques: BOF (Basic Oxygen Furnace) and the
more present-day EAF (Electric Arc Furnace). Essential shaping, for example,
hot rolled and cold rolled strips, rods, tube rounds, structural shapes, rails.
Afterwards, secondary procedures that are coating, heat treatment, surface
treatment, metal cutting give the steel its last shape and properties.

Despite all challenges in the steel industry such as evolving customer demands,
geopolitical uncertainty, the impact of e-mobility, the effect of digitalization,
some technologies provide more efficient processes, higher quality steels,
environmental-friendly production, quality consistency, etc. Here are four
technological developments in the steel industry:

1. The ORC Technology

Thermodynamically heat changes to work in a cycle called Rankine Cycle and

this system depends on the water gives around 85% of overall power
generation.
8
The Organic Rankine Cycle has the same working principle as the Rankine Cycle
but ORC depends on a turbo generator running. It transforms heat energy into
mechanical energy and electrical energy at last. The difference is rather than
creating steam from water, the ORC technology vaporizes a natural liquid.
Therefore it provides a slower turn of the turbine, reduces pressure, and no
abrasion of the metal parts and sharp edges. This system can produce enough
power from waste up to 700 houses around. Also, the carbon footprint of the
facilities from the steel industry decreases by about 10.000 tons of CO2 while
removing the water need for cooling systems.

2. Hybrit Process
The collaborative task of three Swedish organizations, SSAB, LKAB, and
Vattenfall started the project called ‘Hybrit’ (‘Hydrogen Breakthrough Iron
making Technology’). The goal is to create zero-carbon in steel production
beginning from 2020.

Conventional production of pig iron includes coke and iron ore to remove
oxygen on the other hand this process releases to the atmosphere hazardous
gas carbon dioxide. The mentioned new generation procedure utilizes
hydrogen, which besides can remove the oxygen in the iron ore, yet the
outcome is water vapour instead of carbon dioxide. Change existing
procedures to remove characteristic conditions on petroleum products. In this
way, the Hybrit process idea is totally becoming green steel.

The Hybrit process falls within several advancements that are the utilization of
hydrogen as a decreasing agent, with the hydrogen being generated through
electrolysis depending on sustainable power. From a natural point of view, the
most significant benefit of this is the fumes from this procedure is water rather
than carbon dioxide.

The products coming HDR (Hot Direct Reduction) process out is named DRI
(Direct Reduced Iron) or “sponge iron) which is fed into BOF or EAF mixed with
an appropriate amount of scrap, and further prepared into steel. In spite of the
fact that this particular blend of procedures has not been executed at the
business scale. A Few of the individual segments are as of now broadly utilized

9
in the worldwide steel industry. Numerous parts of the HDR/EAF arrangement
have been tried and sent in modern settings but key difficulties still remain.

3. Jet Process

Particularly equipment and robotization have been improved and optimized

within the most recent years to completely consent to real standards. One of
the latest advancements for exceptional converters is the Jet Process. General
proficiency of over half is come to and a wide scope of scrap rates can be
handled in an exceedingly profitable way. An innovative way to amplify scrap
and HBI (Hot Briquetted Direct Reduced Iron) rates in converter steelmaking.

The internal energy of the hot metal is discharged during the oxygen-blowing
step make it conceivable to feed around 20% scrap converters. Providing
external power allows to make the rate up to around 30%. This additional
power usually can be given by electricity or coal.

The Jet Process is designed to take advantage of the chemical energy of coal
more efficiently and cost-effectively in the converter. Scrap metal additions
can be higher without external energy in this way. Also, the high adaptability of
the system makes it easier to implement. Hypothetically, scrap charge rates
from 0 to 100% are conceivable with this adaptable procedure. No coal
addition is necessary up to 30% scrap charges. To increase the adaptability it is
designed a modular converter which enables the fast installation of a
conventional BOF converter base and an oxygen blowpipe, thereby enabling
the converter to be quickly installed to operate as a typical BOF converter.

4. Molten Oxide Electrolysis

Molten Oxide Electrolysis is an unconventional electrometallurgical system

that allows quick production of metal in the liquid state from oxide raw
material. It promises considerable simplification of the whole process and
essential energy need minimization. Molten Oxide Electrolysis has been proved
to utilize anode materials which are graphite for use with ferro-alloys and
titanium and iridium for use with iron. It is needed to overcome several
challenges to produce metal without process carbon such as process

10
temperature, corrosion of metals considering electrolysis conditions, and
abrasion of refractory materials.

Still, it offers exceptional properties in terms of applicability to multiple metals

as well as high-temperature operations to produce liquid metal. A review of
the transport properties of molten oxides shows that an unprecedented yield
can be predicted as a promising feature for tonnage production in the steel
industry.

Molten Oxide Electrolysis advancements created at the Massachusetts

Institute of Technology. Professor Donald R. Sadoway’s lab proved that it could
be possible to produce emission-free steel by producing low-cost inert anode
at the lab scale with help from NASA, the American Iron and Steel Institute,
and the Deshpande Centre at MIT. Looking at the state of the technology in
electrode materials, it appears that quantitative design criteria for both
cathode and anode continue to be developed.

11
 KEY PLAYERS IN INDIA
1. Tata Steel Ltd

Tata Steel was established in India as Asia’s first integrated private steel
company in 1907 Owned by Tata Group. The companies crude steel capacity
across Indian operations is nearly 19 MnTPA. Tata Steel is the second-largest
steel producer in Europe with a crude steel production capacity of over 12.1
MnTPA.

Tata Steel has manufacturing units at Jamshedpur, Jharkhand and

Kalinganagar, Odisha with production capacities of 10 MnTPA and 3 MnTPA,
respectively. In Financial Year 2018-19, the Company initiated a 5 MnTPA
expansion project at Kalinganagar to enhance its cumulative capacity to 8
MnTPA.

2. JSW Steel Ltd

JSW Steel is a flagship company of the JSW Group and the second-largest steel
companies of India. The Company has a steel making capacity of 18 MnTPA .
Ranked 7th amongst Top 34 World Class Steelmakers by World Steel Dynamics.
It has a large scale presence in both India and international.

12
JSW Steel Coated Products Limited is India’s leading manufacturer and
exporter of coated steel with a capacity of 1.8 MTPA. A 100% subsidiary of its
parent company JSW Steel Ltd. The Company is second in the list of top 10
steel companies in India based on the turnover.

3. Steel Authority of India Ltd

Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) is a Government steel-making company

in India and one of the seven Maharatna’s of the country’s Central Public
Sector Enterprises. It is the Top Government steel companies in India. The
company is third in the list of top 10 steel companies in India based on the
revenue.

4. Essar Steel India Ltd

Essar Steel is known for its high quality of flat steel products. The company
focuses on high value-added grade steels and has developed over 300 grades

13
of flat steel for different applications. Essar Steel is a 10 MTPA integrated steel
producer.

It caters to a wide section of industry segments that include auto, shipbuilding,

white and yellow goods, general engineering, power plants, hydrocarbon
industry, pipe making, defense among others. The company is fourth in the list
of top 10 steel companies in India based on the total sales.

5. Jindal Steel & Power Ltd

Jindal Steel & Power Limited (JSPL), a part of the USD 22 billion diversified O. P.
Jindal Group, is a leading Indian Steel manufacturer and Power producer. The
company is fifth in the list of top 10 steel companies in India based on
turnover.

JSPL’s business operations span across the states of Chhattisgarh, Odisha, and
Jharkhand in India, where it operates some of India’s most advanced steel
manufacturing and power generation capacities of a global scale.
14
 FUTURE GROWTH
The National Steel Policy, 2017 envisage 300 million tonnes of production
capacity by 2030-31. The per capita consumption of steel has increased from
57.6 kgs to 74.1 kgs during the last five years. The government has a fixed
objective of increasing rural consumption of steel from the current 19.6 kg/per
capita to 38 kg/per capita by 2030-31.

As per Indian Steel Association (ISA), steel demand will grow by 7.2% in 2019-
20 and 2020-21.

Huge scope for growth is offered by India's comparatively low per capita steel
consumption and the expected rise in consumption due to increased
infrastructure construction and the thriving automobile and railways sectors.

The Indian government has always supported the steel industry and
introduced the National Steel Policy in 2017, which envisions the growth
trajectory of the Indian steel industry till 2030–31.

The broad contours of the policy are as follows:

• Steel-making capacity is expected to reach 300 million tonnes per annum by

2030–31.

• Crude steel production is expected to reach 255 million tonnes by 2030–31,

at 85% capacity utilisation.

• Production of finished steel to reach 230 million tonnes, assuming a yield loss
of 10% for conversion of crude steel to finished steel – that is, a conversion
ratio of 90%.

• With 24 million tonnes of net exports, consumption is expected to reach 206

million tonnes by 2030–31.

• As a result, per capita steel consumption is anticipated to rise to 160 kg.

• An additional investment of INR 10 lakh crore is envisaged.

15
 SWOT ANALYSIS
A useful summary of a business’s ‘internal’ position and ‘external’ environment
which helps in identifying existing organizational strengths, weakness, market
opportunities to exploit and threats to the future success.

SWOT Analysis is an overall appearance that is proven and enables a brand like
Tata Steel or any other company to mark its business & performance as
compared to the competitors as well. The strengths and weaknesses are the
internal factors whereas opportunities and threats are the external factors.

Strengths
 Availability of raw material.
 Market position
 Availability of labour at low wage.
 Quality manpower.
 Developed transport & shipping system.
 Global footprint
 Trust of TATA
 Capability and Adaptability

Weakness
 Systemic deficiencies
 Functional issues
 High cost of capital
 Low labour productivity
 High cost of basic inputs and services
 High rate of taxes
 Labour laws
 Infrastructure issues

16
  Quality issues and less expenditure on R&D.
 High cost of manufacturing.
 Low R&D development
 Inability to adopt technological advancement.

Opportunities
 Unexplored rural market and other sectors
 Low per capita consumption
 Low export market penetration
 Exports
 Export penetration and increase in demand
 Mergers and acquisition
 Infrastructure development in India & abroad.
 Global expansion
 Increasing demand for steel in India
 Adapt newer technologies

Threats
 Slow industry growth
 Technological change
 Price sensitivity and demand volatility
 China factor -dumping of low price steel.
 Intense competition
 Miscellaneous issues
 Decreasing global steel prices
 Government and environmental regulations
 Substitution by aluminium and plastics

17
 GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES
The PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan is Rs.100 lakh Crore investment plan
for infrastructure development over the next five years. The various initiatives
for infrastructure development under the plan will boost the demand for steel
in various sectors thereby enhancing steel usage and growth of the steel
sector. These initiatives, being undertaken by Central Government, have a
development impact across the country including the State of Karnataka.

The ‘Make in India’ initiative of the Government of India ensures the utilisation
of domestically manufactured steel and steel products in the country, Union
Minister of Steel Ram Chandra Prasad Singh told Parliament on Monday.

The steps taken by the Indian steel industry for introduction of digital and
analytics in the steel making processes include the following initiatives:-

 Identification of the finished product till the end customer through

introduction of Quick Response (QR) code based traceable tags where
quality and genealogy can be tracked.
 Centralized Yard Management for all finished products to reduce rake
retention time and improved identification and handling of the material
with wireless Hand Held Terminal (HHT).
 Steel Ladle Management System to automatically track the steel ladle
through various shops like Laddle Preparation Bay, Converter, secondary
metallurgy, caster and back. It is used to monitor ladle circulation time
and effective heat loss in empty ladle. This system facilitates regulating
the steel bath tapping temperature at LD to get optimum casting
temperature at caster using Level-1 and Level-2 automation.
 SMS Grade Prediction System to predict Final (Tundish) Composition and
Final Grade based on Converter Analysis and Ladle Furnace Additions
using Machine Learning Algorithm.
 Optimisation of Coke, Pellet & Sinter quality to improve the yield &
throughput of the Blast Furnaces.

18
  Modeling of iron making process inside a Blast Furnace to reduce coke
consumption and further enhance the yield.
 Optimisation of casting speed in the Continuous Casting process to
arrive at the target properties at the lowest cost and time.
 Operation Research based models to optimize logistics cost and
improving yield by efficient production planning.
 Adoption of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (or Industry 4.0) technology
in the steel sector for improving manufacturing processes, material
usage, energy efficiency, plant & worker productivity, supply-chain and
product life-cycle.

The Ministry of Steel scheme for “Promotion of Research & Development in

Iron & Steel Sector” provides for grant of financial assistance to various
institutions including CSIR laboratories and academic institutions for carrying
out research in the iron & steel sector including environmental issues like
utilisation of wastes, improvement in energy efficiency and reduction in GHG
emission. Indian steel industry has also been taking measures to address the
energy and environment issues in Steel plants through adoption of energy
efficient and environment friendly technologies as part of technological up-
gradation/ modernisation/expansion projects.

The Government has notified Domestically Manufactured Iron and Steel

Products (DMI & SP) Policy on May 8, 2017 and subsequently revised on May
29, 2019 and December 31, 2020. This has resulted in the growth of the
domestic steel sector by import substitution of around Rs 22,400 crore so far.

Stakeholder consultation with experts from the industry, research labs and
academic institutions is integral part of the R&D Scheme of Ministry of Steel to
utilise their domain knowledge while considering the R&D initiatives to address
the technological challenges in the steel sector.

19
CHAPTER 2

ISSUES AND CHALLENGES

Some of the major issues and challenges faced by Indian iron and steel industry
are as follows:

1. Capital:
Iron and steel industry requires large capital investment which a developing
country like India cannot afford.

Many of the public sector integrated steel plants have been established with
the help of foreign aid.

2. Lack of Technology:
Throughout the 1960s and up to the oil crisis in mid-1970s, Indian steel
industry was characterised by a high degree of technological efficiency. This
technology was mainly from abroad. But during the following two decades
after the oil crisis, steep hike in energy costs and escalation of costs of other
inputs, reduced the margin of profit of the steel plants.

This resulted in lower levels of investment in technological developments.

Consequently, the industry lost its technology edge and is now way behind the
advanced countries in this regard. Material value productivity in India is still
very low.

In Japan and Korea, less than 1.1 tonnes (and in several developed countries
1.05 tonnes) of crude steel is required to produce a tonne of saleable steel. In
India, the average is still high at 1.2 tonnes. Improvement in the yield at each
stage of production, particularly for value added products will be more
important in the coming years.

3. Low Productivity:
The per capita labour productivity in India is at 90-100 tonnes which is one of
the lowest in the world. The labour productivity in Japan, Korea and some
20
other major steel producing countries is about 600-700 tonnes per man per
year.

At Gallatin Steel a mini mill in the U.S. there are less than 300 employees to
produce 1.2 million tonnes of hot rolled coils. A comparable facility in India
employs 5,000 workers. Therefore, there is an urgent need to increase the
productivity which requires retraining and redevelopment of the labour force.

4. Inefficiency of public sector units:

Most of the public sector units are plagued by inefficiency caused by heavy
investment on social overheads, poor labour relations, inefficient
management, under-utilisation of capacity, etc. This hinders proper
functioning of the steel plants and results in heavy losses.

5. Low potential utilisation

The potential utilisation in iron and steel is very low. Rarely the potential
utilisation exceeds 80 per cent. For example, Durgapur steel plant utilises only
50 per cent of its potential. This is caused by several factors, like strikes,
lockouts, scarcity of raw materials, energy crisis, inefficient administration, etc.

6. Heavy demand:
Even at low per capita consumption rate, demand for iron and steel is
increasing with each passing day and large quantities of iron and steel are to
be imported for meeting the demands. Production has to be increased to save
precious foreign exchange.

7. Shortage of metallurgical coal:

Although India has huge deposits of high grade iron ore, her coal reserves,
especially high grade cooking coal for smelting iron are limited. Many steel
plants are forced to import metallurgical coal. For example, steel plant at
Vishakhapatnam has to import coal from Australia. Serious thought is now
being given to replace imported coal by natural gas from Krishna-Godavari
basin.

8. Inferior quality of products:

21
Lack of modern technological and capital inputs and weak infrastructural
facilities leads to a process of steel making which is more time consuming,
expensive and yields inferior variety of goods. Such a situation forces us to
import better quality steel from abroad. Thus there is urgent need to improve
the situation and take the country out of desperate position.

9. Raw Materials:
India has abundant deposits of iron ore. However, it has a limited amount of
high-grade coking coal. Thus, India largely fulfils its coking coal requirements
through imports from Australia. But due to various factors like variegated
weather and the pandemic, there have been huge fluctuations in coking coal
supply as well as coking coal import prices. This in turn has severely affected
the steel prices in India for both crude and finished.

10. Environment and Energy:

Environmental issues are increasing at tremendous speed. The Indian steel
industry is no exception to it. For most developing countries like India, steel is
an energy-intensive business. It is due to the unavailability of technology that
prioritizes environmental safety. This results in a larger carbon footprint for the
steel industry, as well as a negative impact on the immediate environment.

As the 20th century progressed, large-scale industries like iron and steel began
to drive the economies of the world. This gave an enormous advantage to
countries with established steel industries. With the progression over the
years, India also set its foot in such sectors and gained a potential market for
itself.

However, after the 21st century, large-scale industries like steel commenced
developing themselves with help of many resources like creating new steel
grades, using upgraded machinery, and relying on modern technology. But
developing countries like India are failing to properly adapt to these changes.

Due to the inability to fully utilizing its structural steel production capabilities,
India relies on imports to a certain magnitude.

22
CHAPTER 3

EMERGING STEEL
TECHNOLOGIES TREND
Trends emerging in the area of steel technologies include, horizontal casting,
thin strip casting and hot charging of con-cast products without soaking/re-
heating. The paper deals with some of these areas including the advances in
rolling mill operation.

Steelmaking technology, including the preparation of raw materials and

utilisation of wastes, has undergone marked changes over the last five
decades. The hand mining of ores/minerals has almost completely been
replaced by mechanised mining. The role of mineral beneficiation and sizing
has therefore increased. The current emphasis is on maximising the use of
mined materials through multiple beneficiation stages and agglomeration of
fines.

Whilst emerging technologies for producing liquid iron are making their
advent, blast furnaces continue to be the unchallenged source of hot metal
production. However, the efficiency of iron making, both in terms of
productivity and quality of hot metal has improved markedly.

Gone are the days of open hearth furnaces and Bessemer converters. LD
steelmaking has incorporated in it a number of improvements, namely
combined blowing, dynamic control along with the use of the sub lance,
improved refractories for lining and ladle treatment of liquid steel.

As per Indian Steel Association (ISA), steel demand will grow by 7.2% in 2019-
20 and 2020-21. Huge scope for growth is offered by India's comparatively low
per capita steel consumption and the expected rise in consumption due to
increased infrastructure construction and the thriving automobile and railways
sectors.

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CHAPTER 4

WORKING OF TECHNOLOGY IN
STEEL INDUSTRY
Steelmaking is a primal industry that requires huge amounts of heat and
energy. As such, it isn’t the first sector that springs to mind when it comes to
energy efficiency and sustainability.

The steel industry is changing to lower its carbon footprint, employing a range
of innovative technologies to lower the environmental impact of its
manufacturing output.

Nevertheless, the industry is taking steps to improve its eco-credentials,

employing a range of innovative technologies to reduce the environmental
impact of steel production.

Technological advances are boosting the industry’s efficiency in other ways,

too. The fourth industrial revolution is allowing technology to work in ever-
closer harmony with different aspects of metals production, transforming the
way steel is made.

As well as converting traditional production environments into highly

automated “smart” plants, digitalization enables the different parts of the steel
manufacturing process to interact and perform at their full potential.

A digitalized plant’s production management systems use sensor technology,

digital production planning tools and sophisticated AI-driven diagnostics to
monitor each smart component. Output is optimized for maximum overall
performance and, as part of this process, each function within the plant is
continually analyzed and refined for incremental improvements in efficiency.

Future systems will use machine learning to discover the optimum way to
produce steel with minimum resources.

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Along with efficiency improvements, this will also help reduce the
environmental impact of steel making across the whole manufacturing
journey.

Steelmaking begins by the processing of iron ore. The rock containing iron ore
is crushed and pulverized to separate the gangue from the ore using magnetic
rollers. A coking furnace coal removes impurities and transforms coal into
coke, an almost pure form of carbon.

Blast furnaces produce most of the pig iron or hot metal used in the steel
industry today from a mixture of iron oxide ore and limestone flux. A mixture
or burden of iron ore, limestone flux and coal is heated in a blast furnace to
produce molten iron, or pig iron, from which steel is made.

Emerging iron making processes such as smelting reduction and direct iron
plants are not as widely used, but their adoption is expanding as the
technology improves and environmental concerns grow. Hot iron is processed
to make crude steel in oxygen converters. Sponge iron, such as direct reduced
iron (DRI) and hot briquetted iron (HBI), produced from iron ore in direct
reduction plants is converted to crude steel in electric arc furnaces. Steel is 100
percentage recyclable, so crude steel is also produced by recycling steel scrap
in electric arc furnaces.

The carbon content of hot metal is similar to that of a cast or ductile iron
material, but is too high for steel. The high sulphur levels would result in hot
shortness or cracking at the grain boundary during hot forming. The
purification or refining is done in converters such as basic oxygen furnaces
(BOFs) and electric arc furnaces that transform hot metal, sponge iron and
scrap steel or a combination of these raw materials into steel. Secondary
refining and alloying can occur to produce specific steel alloys.

Slabs are rolled to produce steel plate, strip and sheet. Girders, beams and
other structural shapes are typically produced from blooms. Billets are formed
into bars and rods or pierced to form steel. Steel finishing flow lines include
rolling, forming, heat treating and coating process units to produce semi-
finished and finished steel shapes from ingots, slabs, billets and blooms.

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CHAPTER 5

CONCLUSION
The Steel industry is among the upcoming industries of the world. It has a
number of iron ores, which means that it has plenty of resources from which to
draw its raw material.

The rate of production of steel in India has been going up at a steady rate in
the last few years. In the recent times Orissa and Jharkhand have been
identified as the potential steel destinations of India – the ones that would
provide the Indian steel industry with its necessary raw material. There are
also a number of steel companies in India like Tata and ArcelorMittal that are
either coming up or have established themselves as prominent forces in the
world steel scenario.

In the recent times a lot of foreign direct investment is being made in the
Indian steel industry. In fact the rate of investment has increased in the last
few years and, to a certain extent, this increase has been contributed to by the
growth potential of the steel industry of India that is thought of as being
impressive in the international steel circle.

In the recent years a number of major steel corporations of the world have
come flocking to India to avail the benefits of the flourishing steel industry of
India. The number of steel projects in India has increased as well and this
implies that the number of companies lining up to participate in these projects
would be increasing too.

There are certain challenges that are being faced by the Indian steel industry of
late. There are certain issues regarding the condition of the infrastructural
facilities available and the skill level of the members of the steel fraternity.

The levels of skill of the various technical people associated with the steel
industry has been found to be wanting and this has been a result of the
inability of the Indian steel industry to attract the best people from the world
of engineering and technology. The state of infrastructure needs to be
improved so that the production of steel can be taken to the next level.
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