There has been phenomenal increase in the production of pig iron and steel in the country during the last five decades. During 1950-51 the country produced about 1.69 million tones of pig iron, 1.47 million tons of steel ingots and 1.04 million tones of finished steel which increased to 6.99 million tones, 6.14 million tones and 4.64 million tons respectively in 1970-71 with the commissioning of Rourkela, Bhilai and Durgapur steel plants.
During the next 20 years the production was almost doubled due to expansion in the capacity of existing plants and installation of Bokaro steel plant. The growth during nineties has been comparatively slower due to stability in the demands of steel and long gestation period in the commissioning of new steel plants.
Presents trends of growth in the production of pig iron, steel ingots and finished steel from 1950-51 to 2003-04. A perusal of the table also shows that there has been more than 3 times increase in the output of pig iron, more than 16 times in the steel ingots and more than 35 times in finished steel during the last 53 years.