Iron and steel industry in India

 In 1874,  the Bengal Iron Works (BIW) came into being at Kulti, near Asansol in West Bengal. In 1889 the Bengal Iron and Steel Company acquired the plant and by the turn of the century the Kulti plant became a success story. It produced 40,000 tonnes of pig iron in 1900 and continued to produce the metal until it was taken over by Indian Iron and Steel Company (IISCO) in 1936.

 For modern India’s iron and steel industry August 27, 1907 was a red-letter day when the Tata Iron and Steel Company (TISCO) was formed as a Swadeshi venture to produce 120,000 tonnes of pig iron. The TISCO plant at Sakchi (renamed Jamshedpur) in Bihar, started pig iron production in December 1908 and rolled out its first steel the following year.  TISCO had expanded its production capacity to one million tonnes ingot by the time the country achieved freedom.

In 1918, soon after the war, Indian Iron and Steel Company (IISCO) was formed

Government decided to start a chain of steel plants all over the country in the public sector. The first such plant was set up at Rourkela in Orissa. The second came up at Bhilai in Madhya Pradesh. It was followed by a third at Durgapur in West Bengal. Each of these three plants had an initial production capacity of one million tonne ingot. 

As a matter of fact, the country was dotted with steel and steel-related plants in public and private sectors, like Alloy Steel Plant, Salem Steel Plant, Kalinga Iron Works, Malavika Steel Ltd., Jindal Vijaynagar Steel Ltd., to name only a few. About the same time TISCO launched its two-million-tonne expansion programme

The finished steel pdroduction in India has gone up from mere 1.1 million tonnes in 1951 to 23.37 million tonnes in 1997-98 despite overall economic slow-down in the country. 

The year 2004-05 proved to be a fortunate year for the Indian steel

industry because many of the steel making units were able to earn profits or

reduce their previous debts due to the increased demand in steel consumption and increase in steel prices. In 2004-05 the finished steel production was 40 million tons which was again increased to 49.39 million tones in the year 2006-07.