New Delhi: At a webinar organised by the CII on Tuesday, several Central ministers highlighted the importance of the steel sector to take the nation forward.
About 158 lakh Metric Tonne steel and 692 lakh Metric Tonne cement is likely to be consumed in the construction of all the houses sanctioned under PMAY(U) as per estimates, said Hardeep Singh Puri, MoS, I/C, MoHUA and MoCA. Addressing a webinar on Atmanirbhar Bharat: Fostering Steel Usage in Housing & Construction and Aviation Sector, he said that nearly 84 lakh MT steel and 370 lakh MT cement would have already been consumed in houses grounded/completed so far.
Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas and Steel; F S Kulhaste, MOS Steel; P K Kharola, Secretary Moca; DS Mishra, Secretary, Mohua; PK Tripathi, Secretary, Steel; senior officers and stakeholders from the industry participated in the CII-organised webinar.
Saying that under the PMAY(U), so far 1.07 crore houses (against the demand of 1.12 crore houses) across 4,550 urban cities and 67 lakh houses have been grounded and 35 lakh have been delivered, Puri added that an estimated 3.65 crore jobs would be generated in construction of all sanctioned houses of which about 1.65 crore jobs would have already been generated.
The minister added that in 2019, a vision for India becoming a $5 trillion economy by 2024 was laid out by the Prime Minister and this growth was envisioned to be anchored in innovative, sustainable, inclusive and self-reliant infrastructure development across the country. Speaking on urbanisation, the Minister said: “Our urban centres/cities are hubs of economic productivity, infrastructure, culture, and diversity. Nearly 40% of our population or 600 million Indians are expected to live in our urban centres by 2030.”
Highlighting the usage of steel in urban transport, Puri said that currently about 700 km metro length is operational in 18 cities and about 900 km network is under construction in 27 cities. He added that the average per km requirement of steel in metro projects is about 13,000 Metric Tonnes (Types-Reinforcement Steel, Structural Steel, Stainless Steel and HT Steel).
Speaking about Indirect steel usage in Smart Cities Mission, the Housing and Urban Affairs Minister stated that 5,151 projects worth more than Rs 2 lakh crore were identified in 100 Smart Cities and the Mission has tendered around 4,700 projects worth Rs. 1,66,000 crore which is about 81% of the total projects proposed.
Highlighting the usage of steel in aviation sector, the Civil Aviation Minister said that steel is being used extensively in airport terminal buildings for roof structure and as support to glass façade. He stated that with a steel roof structure, large column-free spaces can be created to give unobstructed view and appearance. Puri explained that the enhanced use of steel in terminal buildings, pre-engineered structures leads to ease in work and speedy construction. He stated that value of steel used in construction of airport terminal buildings in the past three years is Rs 570 crore. He informed that the value of steel expected to be used for construction of airport terminal buildings in the next five years is Rs 1,905 crore.
Puri urged the steel industry to come out with its own design and structures for usage of newer strategies and technologies which will have faster completion periods for houses and are resilient.