During the World Steel Association's (worldsteel) 46th annual meeting held in New Delhi on October 10,
India's minister of urban development Kamal Nath stated that, despite
India's growth target of eight percent for its economy and 10-15 percent for its steel industry,
India is facing major challenges, including low income per capita and insufficient infrastructure.
Mr. Nath underlined that
India has a huge infrastructure deficit, saying that in the next 10 years
India will not be building the future, but will be seeking to "catch up with the past". Stating that western economies have already started renewing their infrastructure,
India is building it for the first time, he said, adding that this will certainly increase its steel demand as
India's current steel consumption per capita is only about 20 kg, one tenth of the world average.