On January 29, 2026, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Economic Survey 2025-26 in the Lok Sabha. The Survey highlighted the steel sector as the backbone of India's industrialisation and infrastructure. India remains the world's second-largest crude steel producer. Over the past five years, the sector grew strongly, driven by construction and manufacturing demand. However, the Survey said, "The domestic steel sector faces challenges related to international price disparity and raw material security." Due to low international prices, India was a net importer of steel during FY26 (April–October). This caused lower export margins and cheaper imports. India is mostly self-sufficient in iron ore but depends heavily on imported coking coal. To reduce risks, the Ministry of Coal launched Mission Coking Coal in 2022. It aims to increase domestic raw coking coal production to 140 million tonnes by 2030. The government also introduced a Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for Specialty Steel in 2021, with an outlay of ₹6,322 crore, to support growth and self-reliance. By October 2025, investments under this scheme reached ₹23,022 crore, producing 2.34 million tonnes of specialty steel. In FY26 so far, crude steel production rose 11.7%, finished steel up 10.8%, and consumption grew 7.8% compared to the previous year’s April-October period.