In India steel is produced by the Duplex and Semi-Duplex processes, basic open hearth and elec­tric process, and LD (Linz and Donawitz) convert­ers. Recently the Cortex process is getting more popularity in which coal replaces coke as a fuel. In old process the iron ore and coke are fed into the blast furnace continuously from above. Small quantity of dolomite and limestone are also added as flux to help combine the impurities in the ore as slag. Molten iron is tapped off at the base of the furnace at regular intervals.

The product so obtained is called pig iron which contains up to 5 per cent of carbon and other impurities. These impurities are removed through deoxidation process and hardening materials includ­ing carbon are added to get steel. Cortex process makes use of non-coking coal as a reductant in the smelting of iron ore. This process was developed in the late seventies by Voest-Alpine Industries anlagenbau of Austria. It is used in newly constructed steel plant at Vijayanagar.