“Export curbs on ferrous scrap from UAE, EU creating significant challenge for India”
The depletion of international ferrous scrap sources due to export curbs like those from the UAE and potential restrictions from the EU aimed at promoting a circular economy and tightening environmental criteria is creating a significant challenge for India, which is currently scrap deficient, a top executive said.
To harness domestic scrap and meet the demand, which is projected to reach 65 million tonnes (MT) annually by 2030 with a potential import gap of 20–30 MT, several already initiated measures such as Vehicle Scrapping Policy, Recycling Infrastructure Development, Policy Support among others must be given further impetus said Vinaya Varma, MD, mjunction Services Ltd., a digital platform that provides online marketplaces and digital services for businesses and helps in transparent price discovery of metal scrap and other commodities.
“The Centre’s scrapping policy, launched in 2021, aims to encourage recycling and remove old, polluting vehicles from the roads, although its uptake is currently low. This is a key step to generating end-of-life vehicle (ELV) scrap and the process needs to be expediated.
Indian producers like Tata Steel have started establishing steel recycling plants to formalize and scale up the domestic processing of scrap,” he said.
To deal with the issue the government is actively promoting the shift to Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) steelmaking, which uses scrap as its primary feedstock, he said adding companies like mjunction are building AI-driven digital platforms to bridge the demand-supply gap by organising scrap procurement.
Underscoring the need to find future scrap sources he said, “As society matures, the domestic scrap generation is expected to grow, moving beyond vehicles to include white goods, air conditioners, and refrigerators, which will gradually reduce import dependency.”
“The government is mulling scrappage recommendations for white goods also. CERC has noted that the National Electricity Plan may recommend retiring thermal plants over a certain age, such as 25 years,” he added.
India’s steel consumption, which currently stands at 152 million metric tons (MMT), is projected to grow to 220 MMT by FY30, 260 MMT by 2035 and 390 MMT by FY50.
This surge is primarily driven by massive government initiatives in infrastructure (e.g., Gati Shakti Master Plan), urbanization, and construction (Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana), with these sectors accounting for over 70% of consumption, Mr Varma said.
“India’s crude steel capacity is planned to double to 300 MT by 2030. Despite the domestic expansion, India remains a net steel importer. While imports moderated in 2025 due to a safeguard duty and anti-dumping measures, the nation’s reliance on raw material imports like coking coal and scrap remains a significant challenge,” he said.
Emphasising that green steel was central to India’s climate and resource-efficiency goals and its path to decarbonization, he said industry was moving away from the coal-intensive Blast Furnace-Basic Oxygen Furnace (BF-BOF) route towards EAF (using scrap) and Hydrogen-based Direct Reduced Iron (H₂ DRI) routes.
“The demand for green steel is projected to increase exponentially, driven by corporate net-zero targets (especially for Scope 3 emissions) and supportive government policies (e.g., public procurement mandates),” he said.
Currently negligible, the demand for green steel is projected to grow to 4.49 MT by FY30. 73.44 MT by FY40 and 179.17 MT by FY50 with construction being the largest consumer, he said.
On the challenges he said “The current premium on green steel (around $210 per ton for H₂ DRI) makes it expensive. However, this premium is expected to drop significantly as green hydrogen costs fall and carbon taxes increase the price of conventional steel.”
For over two decades, mjunction, equally owned by Tata Steel and Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) has been a leading player in the organized scrap trade, facilitating sourcing of steel scrap from Auto OEMs, EPC sites, P&M units, and various industrial sources.
Facilitating sale of scrap from Registered Vehicle Scrapping Facilities (RVSFs), mjunction has also been actively sourcing scrap for organized buyers for the past six years.
Published – November 29, 2025 08:28 pm IST
