India’s Union Budget for FY 2025–26 has boosted the country’s capital expenditure by approximately 10 per cent, raising it to ₹11.21 lakh crore (about 3.1 per cent of GDP), up from ₹10.2 lakh crore in FY 2024–25. This increase targets infrastructure, shipbuilding, green energy, and MSME growth-sectors that together drive nearly 69 per cent of domestic steel consumption. Industry analysts observe that while this capex surge won’t replicate last year’s double-digit growth in steel demand, it remains a meaningful support to the sector . Key beneficiaries include roadways, railways, smart cities, and urban housing projects, which heavily rely on structural steel, reinforcement bars, and plate products.
The Budget also earmarked ₹200 billion toward a new small modular reactor (SMR) nuclear energy mission, expected to deliver an additional push to the steel and green energy segments. Combined with a ₹250 billion maritime development fund and enhanced credit support for MSMEs, the measures are poised to increase demand for built steel components and shipbuilding-grade steel. Another green steel booster is the government’s proposal to request ₹150 billion (US $1.74 billion) in incentives for low‑carbon steelmills, part of a broader plan to reduce steel sector emissions as it moves toward a net‑zero target by 2070 .
