The cabinet cleared a policy for the domestic steel sector which plans to treble India’s steel production capacity by 2030 and help the country meet its steel requirements. But how far can this policy go in reviving Indian steel makers, who in recent years have been hurt by an unprecedented influx of steel imports from countries such as China, Japan and South Korea? The National Steel Policy 2017 projects crude steel production capacity of 300 million tonnes (mt) by 2030-31 from about 100-120 mt currently and per capita consumption of 158kg of finished steel as against the current consumption of 61kg. The policy also sees an increase in domestic availability of washed coking coal by 2030-31. The policy also looks to increasing the per capita consumption of steel to 160 kgs from current consumption of 60 kgs, highlighting that they want to promote steel consumption in infrastructure and housing sectors. But obviously, implementation, approvals and other factors need to fall in place in subsequent years. The government has in the last year taken a few protectionist steps for the domestic steel sector. In February 2016, it introduced minimum import duty (MIP) on certain steel products for about a year to protect the domestic industry from cheaper imports. In the following months, it also introduced an anti-dumping duty on some steel products from China and European countries and this year extended that duty on products from China by five years. The policy is the latest step by the Indian government that can put the domestic steel manufacturers in a sweet spot of growth, and demand can grow by 5-6% in the current year.