How are integrated steel plants different from mini steel plants? What problems does the industry face? What recent developments have led to a rise in the production capacity?

The iron and steel industry is one of the world’s major industries because it contributes raw materials to various other industries like engineering, locomotives, infrastructure, defence, etc. It is a mineral-based industry because its raw material mainly iron ore, coal and limestone are mined. Steel because of its capacities and functions is often called the backbone of modern industries. Complete answer: The Indian iron and steel industry consists of large integrated steel plants as well as mini steel mills. The difference between the two is that integrated steel plants put together the whole process from converting the iron ore to production and manufacturing of steel and finished and semi-finished products. On the other hand, mini steel plants use pig iron or leftovers from integrated steel plants to make alloys. This is why there is a need for integrated steel plants to be located near the mining sites of iron ore, coal and limestone otherwise the transportation cost is too high and mini steel plants have no such location restrictions. Major problems faced by the iron and steel industry in India are—requirement of huge investment capital, lack of technology, low per capita labour productivity, the inefficiency of public sector units, low utilisation of potential, shortage of coal and irregular power supply. Despite these issues, India became the 2nd largest steel producer in the world in 2019 after China. This growth and expansion is a result of foreign direct investment and liberalisation and privatisation policies. Note: In India, some major integrated steel plants under public sector or SAIL are Durgapur steel plant, Bhilai steel plant, Visvesvaraya steel plant, Bokaro steel plant, Rourkela steel plant and Salem steel plant and some private sector undertakings include -TISCO or Tata Steel Limited in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand and Kalinganagar, Odisha; -Jindal Steel and Power Limited in Raigarh, Chhattisgarh and Angul, Odisha; and -JSW Steel in Bellary, Karnataka and Boisar and Dharamtar, Maharashtra.