MSME Week: How India can leverage its export of steel to boost economy

The steel sector is one of the worst-hit during the COVID-19 pandemic. The industry faced headwind in the last one year due to the decline in automobile sales. Now the COVID-19 pandemic has only added to the sector’s woes with most units being shut during the lockdown. 

In a week-long celebration of the homegrown brands, YourStory is organising MSME Week from June 20-27, 2020. As part of the virtual interaction, KK Mehrotra, Chairman of Indian Institute of Metals and former CMD of Meccon India Limited, shares his insights from his vast experience in the steel sector. 

“It is expected that domestic steel demand will shrink by 20 percent to 83.3 million tonnes (Mt) in 2020 from 101.5 Mt in 2019. With construction, auto, and general manufacturing coming to a near standstill, the steel industry’s prospects are not very bright in the first half of the current financial year”, KK says in a virtual one-to-one interview during MSME Week. 

During MSME Week, presented by TransUnion CIBIL as the credit empowerment partner, SMBStory will bring you business journeys, editorial features, Facebook live sessions, and panel discussions with the business founders, corporates working with MSMEs, and other key stakeholders in the SMB ecosystem. To know details about the MSME Week, visit here.

The steel sector has a huge potential to play a key role in leveraging the Indian economy. China is the biggest exporter of steel. However, in the ongoing scenario, many countries are trying to become less dependent on imports from China. To talk about India, the country surpassed Japan in the production of steel in 2019 and stands at second position after China. This is a good time for the country to boost its exports with quality production. 

KK also mentioned that it is expected that the country will get back to normalcy, hopefully, in the second half of the current financial year due to government-induced expenditure. 

Watch the full interaction below: