India's first six-stand continuous cold rolling mill for stainless steel will be build in Ahmedabad, according to Indian business newspaper Economic Times. With the new mill, Ahmedabad-based rolling mill manufacturer and steel producer Varia Engineering Works expects its annual stainless steel manufacturing capacity to rise to 200,000 mt, up from the present 18,000 mt per year.
Indian Stainless Steel Development Authority (ISSDA) believes that total annual stainless steel production in the country will be around four million mt by the end of the year 2012, while stainless consumption is expected to be around 2.6-2.7 million mt. The ISSDA recently said that stainless steel consumption in India may fall because of the slowdown in infrastructure development. Meanwhile, several stainless steel producers like Jindal Stainless at its Hisar plant, Salem Steel Plant (controlled by Steel Authority of India Ltd), Viraj Steel and Panchmahal Steel have expansion plans, which will add a total capacity of 0.5 million mt by the end of 2012.
India's current consumption of stainless steel per capita is 1.2 kg and, accordirg to industry players, the consumption level will be doubled in the next three to five years. Himanshu Varia, director of Varia Engineering Works, said, "There will be huge demand for stainless steel cold rolled coils and sheets for metro train coaches, railway wagons, roofing, kitchenware and the automobile industry. Although currently demand is low, it will improve over the coming two to three years. Additionally, the export market will push demand up. Steelmakers in developed countries will maintain their pursuit of a shift from volume to value, which will help manufacturers in developing countries."