PLI For Specialty Steel: Govt Receives 79 Applications From 35 Companies, Signs 27 Agreement

The application window for financial incentives under the PLI Scheme for Specialty Steel closed in September 2022 and the government received 79 applications from 35 companies, out of which MoUs were signed with 27 selected companies covering 57 applications, according to Union Minister Faggan Singh Kulaste.

The government approved the production-linked incentive (PLI) plan for speciality steel on 22 July 2021, with a financial outlay of Rs 6,322 crore. Since 2018, India has been the world's second-largest crude steel producer and second-largest user of finished steel.

“The application window closed on 15 September 2022. The government received 79 applications from 35 businesses, with 27 selected companies signing Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) covering 57 applications. Companies participating in the PLI scheme have committed to an investment of 29,530 crores, an increase in downstream capacity of 24.78 million tonnes, and an increase in employment of approximately 55,000,” Union Minister of State for Steel and Rural Development Faggan Singh Kulaste said in a written reply to a Rajya Sabha question.

The PLI Scheme's goal is to promote domestic manufacturing of 'Specialty Steel' within the country by attracting capital investment, creating jobs, and promoting technological advancement in the steel industry.

The scheme's key features include three incentive slabs, participation by only businesses registered in India, and a commitment to the scheme's investment and incremental output thresholds.

Speciality steel is a value-added steel in which normal finished steel is worked upon by coating, plating, heat treatment, and other methods, making it useful in uses needing specific properties such as defence, space, power, automobiles, specialised capital goods, and so on. Additional speciality steel production is needed for the domestic steel industry to move up the global value chain.