The Indian government has recently released the“National Steel Policy (NSP) 2017,”which declares the aim of increasing steel production capacity from 122 Mt in 2015 to 300 Mt in 2030 in order to attain self-sufficiency.  However, the insolvency issue recently looming large in the Indian steel industry makes this goal appear somewhat hollow. As of March 2016, the Indian steel industry’s debt surpassed INR 3 trillion, and between INR 1.15 to 2 trillion within it is categorized as non-performing assets. However, steel imports are not the only culprit in the insolvency of the Indian steel industry. There are other fundamental reasons underlying the insolvency. The first relates to policies based on the ripple effect from the NSP 2005. The second cause of insolvency is investment fervor among Indian steelmakers, which left huge aftermath within the industry. Restructuring of the Indian steel industry will be mainly led by Tata and JSW.

Now is the right time for the Indian government to seek not only quantitative growth, but also qualitative improvement to enhance the global competitiveness of the domestic steel industry.