Productivity improvements in iron ore mining practices in India : present status and challenges ahead

India at present is the 10th largest producer of steel in the world. With 1 Mt crude steel production in early 50's, India's crude steel production has come to 21.55 Mt in 1995-96. The demand for finished steel in the country is slated to go up at an annual average rate of around 11% during 2001-02 to 2011-12. The estimated demand of finished steel in the country in 2001-02 will be 31 Mt which will increase to 70 Mt by 2011-12 A.D. Indian steel industry is nearly a century old and with all its inherent strength and chronic weaknesses, is poised for rapid growth to develop into one of the world's largest producer of crude steel by the turn of the century. However, the extent to which these ambitious growth projections can become a reality will depend to a large extent, on our ability to identify and deal with pressing critical issues -quality, technology and competition and accurately foresee and plan for the challenges that must be faced. Delicensing of steel industry under the liberalised industrial policy in July 1991 has resulted in attracting large scale private investment in this sector. As a result of these new investments, the demand for raw materials like iron ore is expected to increase manifold.