Promote the steel industry to boost development

Since toys are made of toxic substances that may create many disorders in children, is it time for steel toys then? Steel is seeping into our everyday life without us even noticing it. Steel has completely taken over the kitchen market, be it in households or hospitality chains. Cookware made of brass, bronze or aluminum is as rare as the Harappa stone utensils.

Indinox-Stainless Steel Fair 2010 which concluded this week, in Ahmedabad, had participation from hundreds of domestic and international exhibitors bringing into focus the importance of steel in current times. Exhibiting over 45 categories, including houseware, raw material, hardware, furniture, equipment for industrial use and allied products, these products were mainly made of stainless steel - containing chromium that makes it resistant to corrosion and also making it a very user friendly material.
Ranked as the 10th largest steel exporter of the world, India has an output of 18-20 lakh tonnes of stainless steel per annum, but against a per capita consumption of 9.4 kg internationally, India had a consumption of just 1.2 kg, which is the lowest in the world. There is, therefore, tremendous scope for increasing production and consumption of steel in our country.
Steel is by far the most important, multi-functional and most adaptable of materials. The development of mankind would have been impossible but for steel. The backbone of developed economies was laid on the strength and inherent uses of steel. The steel industry has developed new technologies and has strived hard to make the world's strongest and most versatile material even better. There are altogether about 2000 grades of steel developed of which 1500 grades are high-grade steels.
Steel is being used in a variety of new ways. From toys and new age gym equipment to making of ships, building huge arches over bridges, in auditoriums and exhibition grounds to medical equipments like steel needles for implants. New age maintenance free and durable steel toys such as miniature cars, double-decker buses, fire-trucks and fire-stations; bridges for car-racing, dog-houses, aero plane and super hero figurines have already started to hit the market. 
Steel industry will however still have to find out newer ways to use steel and be ready to face a stiff competition from aluminum in the future. Cheaper, lighter and well finished aluminum is making inroads into the construction and building sector. Apart from such natural metals, steel also faces stiff competition from new patented inventions of several composite metals available in high durable and competitive pricing.
After the 1991 liberalization, steel is treated as a deregulated product. There is no monitoring on the price of steel and it follows a demand-supply market force norm. As the demand climbs, so does the price. However, since India is on a fast track to infrastructure growth and steel is such a key element to development, it may be necessary to check that the price of steel is kept under control. With the variety of uses that this versatile metal is being put to, it is quite evident that its requirement is expected to go up quite substantially in the years to come.