Hello Panikkar

Greetings

The problem of Steel goes beyond energy scarcity and other input costs.

India has always been a net importer of "old" and obsolete technologies as well as net looser of "bright" youngsters who have had outstanding education in IIT's. IIM's and other institutions such as Institute of Science, Bangalore. When India first began its Integrated Steel Plants during Jawahar Lal Nehru's period in 1956 through 1960, China and Japan did not have even one integrated Steel plant. Between 1956 and 1960, India commissioned Three Integrated Steel Plants under international technology support. In the same period, Japan had one Integrated Steel Plant supported by the same German group that set up the Rourkela Steel Mill. Now, when India floated a Global Tender in 1962, for Steel Mill expansion, Japan was quoting! Rest is history

So also, China, which was a late starter in the field of integrated Steel mill technology, did not have any imported know-how worth the name, although they did obtain some techniques from the then USSR, and slowly and steadily improved and increased their Steel production with 100% indigenous technologies, reaching the world's largest Steel producer by about the Nineties (within twenty years). And, unabashedly, our Steel Plant engineers and Technologists are now "running" to see the Engineering and Technology of China!!! ... over 50 years after we have been continuously been importing know-how, spending Billion sof Rupees in sending our engineers to outside India for training and so on...

Today, instead of trying to outwit all others in Steel or other manufacturing, we continue to look for "thrown away" technologies, while selling precious raw materials at "dead cheap" prices.

You may agree with these perhaps!!!

pvhramani

Hi panikkar.

I have spent my career in the steel industry. The down cycles are always
"crisis."

HAving government interference ( supervision) only makes things worse as they try to stop the inevitable to meet their policy goals, and the flows of capital are not "rational" thus not rewarded by the market.

The industry can only be as healthy as its weakest participant.

Looking at the "industry" solutions become difficult.

on the basis of individual companies, excellence is achievable.

But that is by technological and operational leadership.

That requires savvy managers, engineers, and a business aligned with the realities of what is available.

Instead of trying to make "high glamour automotive" steel, a savvy manager might judge that steel for civil engineering projeects would better serve the Indian people and relieve pressures on its environment. This is "market sensitivity" and is based on integrating sustainability with profit and enterprise realities.

But as long as people think that Automotive is the status, their will be no infrastructure, and no progress.

Better to first build capacity for infrastructure steel, build infrastructure, then "evolve" into next better technology with profits and lessons learned from that.

My original steel mill blast furnaces were dynamited in 1980 in youngstown ohio.

I have been a steel refugee ever since, working in plants in lorain ohio, atlanta georgia, Lackawanna new york, and johnston Pennsylvania as well as Chicago Il.

JUst do your best Locally and if the bureaucrats don't have too much sway you will muddle thru.

milo

Hi

Though Milo may not have the experience of living in the peculiar "circumstances" of Indian industry, his words of wisdom seem appropriate:

"Looking at the "industry" solutions become difficult.

on the basis of individual companies, excellence is achievable.

But that is by technological and operational leadership.

That requires savvy managers, engineers, and a business aligned with the realities of what is available."

India has always been plagued by the peculiarity that we have a good number of "engineers" and "scientists" (over a million at this moment!) not only in the employ of the various industries but also in the various Government run Research and Development Institutions ... yet their combined competency had never been brought to limelight through "on the ground" results. Ever since Nehru's demise, India's scientific and Engineering community have been "slaves" and "middlemen" of alien Technologies, trying to corner as much as possible through anything "foreign" ... something that drives the entire "Science & Technology" community and all programs, right up to now. Not that nothing is being done at many Institutions and Industries, but these "few and far between" results are just NOT ENOUGH. This, followed by the unabashed "craze" for the present trend of engineers' accepting so-called "multi-national" company employment in non-engineering jobs for "high pay" is taking away the "brain power" required for Science and Engineering. For example, an Indian Institute Technology trained M. Tech or PhD in say Heat and Thermal engineering (specializing in CHP and Non-conventionals) would take up a job in the Financial Consultancy Company of Standard and Poor!!! All his/ her qualifications, training and hard work are of no use (over 6 to 8 years of Graduation followed by Post graduation studies and training). And, it is sad that the Directors and Management of these prestigious Institutions of learning (which also were set up by Pundit Jawahar Lal Nehru to be the TEMPLES of LEARNING) have now made these to be mere "suppliers" of "English Knowledge Trained Technical Clerks" to work in alien environments, far from the subject in which they have been trained. Every year the heads of these Institutions gloat over through press conference that so much % of our trained men and women have been offered such and such "jobs" in these (non-engineering) multinational companies ... a bandwagon created and nurtured by them ... don't understand why this is being done!!!

As Peter Drucker had indicated, the success or otherwise of any Industry or Business is dependent on the PEOPLE ... not machines or even technology. Business for him was PEOPLE. "put the right person at the right place, and support him with what he/ she needs; the results would be dramatic"

India LACKS this form TOP to Bottom in all spheres. Steel is no exception. There is no point in blaming politics or other systems. Our PEOPLE (mainly the Scientists and Engineers) have NOT risen up to the expectations. Instead, we have tried to "run away" to alien lands and systems under the guise of earning GOOD MONEY. Yes Good money alright, but for whom?

Thus, we have over the years deteriorated our Industry Standards and Efficiency, with hardly about 1% of the Population enjoying "sumptuous" living standards, over 90% of the population living in "filth and squalor", earning not even $3 per day (700 million in these earning only about $0.5 per day!)

What to talk of STEEL!!!

pvhramani

Some of the differences I found in China and India are

1)When china liberalised the industries we in India continued with the control of steel industry.

2.In India we went for bigger steel plants and China went for mini steel plants mini Blast furnaces for atleast for a reasonable time(Now they go for BFs above 35M3 only).This evolved cheaper technologies there.

3.Pollutions norms in China are not strctly implimented.Hence production cost is less and also lesser investment

There are many more points,I shall write later as I do not want to deviate from the main issue.

Regards,

PGPanikkar

Sorry for the typing error.China goes for blast furnaces above 350M3 now.Not 35 M3 as typed by me

Regards,

pgpanikkar