Hyderabad, 6 July 2022: Celebrating Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav Iconic Week of the Ministry of Steel, NMDC conducted a seminar on ‘Increasing Steel Consumption’ at its Head Office in Hyderabad today. The mining major invited opinion leaders from the Iron and Steel industry – Shri P. Madhusudan, Former CMD, RINL; Shri Yogesh Daruka, Partner, PWC; and Shri Rajib Maitra, Director, Deloitte as panel members. NMDC’s Senior Management – Director (Finance) Shri Amitava Mukherjee and CVO Shri B. Vishwanath (IRSS) encouraged the NMDC employees to participate and be interactive during the technical talk show.

“Increasing Steel Consumption – the theme of this seminar is indicative of the development aspirations of our country” said Shri Amitava Mukherjee. Addressing the employees, he added that, “As the largest producer of iron ore in India, we must measure up to the development demands of our country by enabling production and promoting consumption of steel.”

As keynote speaker, Shri P. Madhusudan emphasized on, “enhancing Steel Consumption in the Rural Economy.” He recommended the building of ecosystems that will demand steel such as Smart Villages and Advanced Agriculture systems as the way to increase usage of steel in rural landscapes of India.

Shri Yogesh Daruka talked about the positioning of the mining industry in society and “the need to revamp the brand from an exploitative industry to a development industry.” He then declared that this is possible when the mining majors of the country double down on ESG. He was accompanied by Shri Praveen Mishra, Director, PWC, who delved into the Iron and Steel Scenario and laid down the key enablers in achieving the New Steel Policy target – “Investment in R&D, Funding towards ESG, Policies around Consumption, and Skill Development.”

“Steel is an integral element for building an Atmanirbhar Bharat,” said Shri Rajib Maitra in his session. He also endorsed the increase in use of Rural Steel as the way forward and said that the Government of India policies on housing and infrastructure development penetrating in rural regions will boost the consumption of steel in our country.

NMDC Projects at Kirandul and Bacheli in Chhattisgarh, Donimalai in Karnataka, and Panna in Madhya Pradesh conducted this talk on ‘Increasing Steel Consumption’ in the townships and nearby villages, with 400 participants. The Ministry of Steel is celebrating the Iconic Week of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav from July 4 to July 10, 2022. NMDC has launched week-long awareness programmes and campaigns to encourage the consumption of steel.