As sun sets on Britain’s ‘steel empire’, India on ‘conquering’ march

Last September, the last blast furnace at Port Talbot, in South Wales, flickered out, ending centuries of British ‘virgin’ steel-making that once fuelled the rise of the world’s greatest coloniser. Some months later, in 2025, the story is replaying itself across another industrial town, Scunthorpe.

Britain, the nation that sparked the Industrial Revolution with its iron and steel prowess, is about to relinquish its final claim to primary steel-making after British Steel, owned by the China-based Jingye, decided to close its two blast furnaces and steel-making operations there.

No to govt aid

The company has reportedly rejected a £500-million UK government offer to help it transition to ‘green’ steel production with a new electric arc furnace. The closure would mean the end of steel-making in Scunthorpe after 160 years of production.

There is a strong pitch for “nationalisation”, with the UK now possibly on-course to be the first G7 country that cannot make primary steel.

The strategic alloy, once seen as the backbone of its supremacy, spurred the meteoric rise of a coloniser, the British Empire, that at its peak in 1920 stretched over 26 per cent of the earth’s landmass or 35.5 million sq km.

Author and columnist Sadanand Dhume, in a post on X, wrote: “The country that pioneered the Industrial Revolution is about to become the first G7 member without the ability to make steel domestically from scratch.”

Britain’s steel output, which hit 28 million tonnes (mt) in 1970, slumped to under 6 mt by 2023, with primary production now at zero.

Changing Times

This stark reversal is also a mirror to shifting global power.

Britain’s steel industry, which at its Victorian peak accounted for nearly 40 per cent of the global output, has been battered by high energy costs and cheap imports. The government there is also pushing towards ‘green’ steelmaking (low carbon emission).

The closure of Port Talbot furnaces, operated by Tata Steel, marked the end of an era. And a poignant irony. Tata, which bought British Steel’s remnants as Corus in 2007 for £6.2 billion, now oversees Britain’s transition to electric arc furnaces (EAFs), which recycle scrap rather than forge steel anew. It’s a move that slashes emissions but also severs a historic link to self-sufficiency. The UK government touts a £500-million rescue package for Tata’s EAF shift, to save 2,800 jobs.

The India Story

Contrast this with India, where steel is not just an industry but a statement of intent. India’s steel mills hum with ambition. The country plans to have 300 mt of steel-making capacity by 2030, as a part of its journey towards self reliance. And Indian majors that include Tata Steel, JSW, JSPL, AMNS India and State-owned SAIL are working on expansion plans.

From the sprawling Durgapur Steel Plant — built with British help in the 1960s — to modern giants like JSW Steel, India has leveraged low-cost labour, abundant raw materials, and State-backed ambition to produce over 10 per cent of the world’s steel, and is now the No 2 crude steel producer after China.

Per latest numbers from India’s Steel Ministry, the UK purchased over 0.3 mt of the metal in April-February spanning hot rolled coils and strips (for easy fabrication). The UK was amongst the top six buyers from India.

“This is primarily because Tata Steel is exporting it to the UK to ensure continuity of its operations there,” an official in the know said.

For Britain, the question looms: Can it forge a future without the fire that built it? India has already overtaken the UK in GDP size, and now it is readying a new world order..