Steel Ministry to Set Up Two Scrap-Based Steel Plants in Northern and Western Regions

NEW DELHI:
The Steel Ministry today announced that it would be setting up two scrap-based steel plants, one each in northern and western India, to recycle waste in a cost-effective manner and facilitate establishing small steel plants near the consuming regions of the country.
Steel Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh announced this at the ‘Make in Steel Conference” here.
“India is the second largest importer of scrap steel after Turkey. The western states of Maharashtra and Gujarat account for 60 per cent of scrap imports while 40 per cent of scrap steel consumption is accounted for by northern states. We plan to set up one scrap plant each in western and northern regions to reduce import of scrap materials,” he told the conference.
The minister said a joint venture agreement for the country’s first auto-shredding plant was recently signed between State-run metal scrap trading firm MSTC Limited and Mahindra Intertrade Limited. “It will become operational next year and go a long way in ensuing sustainable development by establishing small steel plants near the consuming regions of the country,” he noted.
This first-of-its-kind auto shredding facility will establish an automotive recycling capability for ELVs (end of life vehicles) from collection, compaction, transportation, dismantling, shredding, recycling, and disposal. Besides vehicles, the plant will also scrap white goods like air-conditioners and refrigerators. The shredded scrap will help secondary steel sector for its raw material requirements resulting in reduced dependence on imports.
Shredding plants, which will be environmental-friendly and energy- and cost-efficient, will provide raw material, and these can be aggregated into recycling clusters or zones. It will also conserve natural resources such as iron ore, coal and limestone, which are used in making steel, and help reduce the production cost for secondary steel makers,
“By 2025, around 28 lakh cars and 12 lakh trucks and buses will reach end- of- life stage. It will generate huge quantities of scrap metal, which can be productively used and also help in import substitution,” he said.
The conference was organized by KATM, a leading multi-commodity e-commerce platform, with support from Ministry of Steel, JSW Steel, ESSAR Steel, SAIL, MESCO Steel and Arttdinox.
Setting up of shredding plants is part of the Steel Ministry’s “Indian Made Steel” strategy to give concrete shape to “Make in India” initiatives in steel industry and stimulate demand in various sectors.
“It will help us move towards making cleaner, efficient and hi
gh quality steel closer to user markets and even in states with scarce natural resources,” Birender Singh said.
It is estimated that by recycling 90 million tonnes of steel scrap from auto-shredding, India can save Rs 100,000 crores worth of raw materials and this would reduce the imports too. The country has an annual scrap requirement of 5-6 million tonnes (MT), and it is like3ly to grow to as much as 15-20 MT in the next 5-10 years.