Chandigarh, Apr 09:  In a social media post by Anil Agarwal, Chairman, Vedanta Group, he emphasized the vision of achieving India’s self-reliance in steel production. Highlighting the Prime Minister’s target of producing 300 million tonnes of steel, Agarwal noted that this would require around 800 million tonnes of iron ore. “At our current production levels, we would need to import 75% of our iron ore requirement,” he said.

Agarwal pointed out that globally, just a handful of companies such as Vale, BHP, Rio Tinto, and Fortescue produce 70%-80% of the world’s iron ore. To match global standards, India would need 3-4 companies capable of producing 200-300 million tonnes each. He emphasized that achieving this would require a major investment in infrastructure, estimated at $20-25 billion or more.

“In a simple, well-planned manner, we can achieve the Prime Minister’s goal of atmanirbharta,” Agarwal wrote. He added that India’s geology and ore quality are comparable—or even superior—to the regions where global giants operate.

Agarwal also highlighted the global trend of simplifying mineral and hydrocarbon production to meet growing demand, referencing the recent US government move to allow self-certified clearances for increased oil and gas production.

“Below-the-ground requires a big vision, like our PM's. Globally, we have also seen massive job creation in this sector and the well-being of people goes up where companies go for voluminous production,” he concluded.

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