New Delhi [India], February 7 (ANI): India targets to more than double its annual crude steel production capacity to 300 million tonnes (MT) by 2030-31 from the present 144 MT, Union Minister of Steel Ram Chandra Prasad Singh said on Monday.

"The present annual crude steel capacity of the country is 144 MT and is envisaged to reach 300 MT by 2030-31. National Steel Policy, 2017 aims to provide the conducive environment for attaining this objective by providing policy support and guidance to steel producers," Singh said in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha.

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The priority for this sector is evident from the fact that 40 per cent of investment in the manufacturing sector in India has been made by companies in the steel sector during 2020-21, the minister said.

Singh said the government has taken a number of initiatives to increase usage of domestically manufactured steel and import substitution.

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The initiatives taken by the Ministry of Steel include notification of Domestically Manufactured Iron & Steel Products (DMI&SP) policy for promoting procurement of Made in India steel, notification of Steel Scrap Recycling Policy to enhance the availability of domestically generated scrap and Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for specialty steel with an outlay of Rs 6,322 crore. (ANI)

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