India’s Ministry of Steel is in the final stages of formulating a national steel scrap policy to align the sector with domestic capacity expansion and global industry trends, a senior government official said on January 21.
Scrap demand to rise with capacity growth
According to Daya Nidhan Pandey, joint secretary at the ministry, scrap consumption is steadily increasing, while overall availability is projected to reach nearly 36 million mt.
“With large-scale expansion underway, scrap demand will rise sharply,” Pandey said, noting the growing importance of scrap in India’s steelmaking mix.
Industry calls for GST reform
The Indian Steel Association (ISA) has urged the government to support scrap usage in the 2026–27 national budget, including extending the GST reverse charge mechanism across the entire metal scrap supply chain. The industry argues this would simplify compliance, reduce leakages and improve ease of doing business.
Pandey said India aims to gradually raise scrap usage toward the global average of 31%, emphasizing that scrap will play a decisive role as India targets 300 million mt of steel capacity by 2030 and 500 million mt by 2047, while working toward its net-zero emissions goal by 2070.
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