From retreat to reclaim: Britain eyes State control in steel-making, India forges ahead with private sector in tow

A general view shows British Steel’s Scunthorpe plant, in Scunthorpe, northern England, Britain, March 31, 2025. REUTERS/Dominic Lipinski
| Photo Credit:
DOMINIC LIPINSKI

Britain’s Parliament broke its Easter recess for a rare Saturday sitting — only the fifth in the nation’s history — to pass emergency legislation aimed at saving the legacy Scunthorpe’s steelworks (British Steel), a cornerstone of industry for over a century. The move signals the vital role of steel in a world roiled by trade tensions and tariff threats from US, right across the Atlantic. 

With Scunthorpe’s blast furnaces, nicknamed Queen Anne and Queen Bess, facing near extinction, the UK ran the risk of becoming the only G7 nation without primary steel-making — a humbling fall for the country that sparked the Industrial Revolution and subsequent colonisation. 

“We need more steel, not less,” UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer previously said, his voice echoing a call for “made-in-Britain steel.” The plea carries shades of India’s own drive for self-reliance, a nation forging ahead with its steel ambitions. 

Scunthorpe’s owner, China’s Jingye Group, claims the plant haemorrhages £700,000 a day, its furnaces no longer viable. This proposed Emergency Bill, a bold stroke, grants UK’s Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds sweeping powers — to secure raw materials, ensure workers’ wages, and reinstate any employee sacked for defying Jingye’s orders. It’s a step shy of nationalisation.

Across the Irish Sea, at Port Talbot’s the UK arm of India’s cong major Tata Steel is pivoting to electric arc furnaces, chasing a greener future but sidelining the traditional blast furnace route. If Scunthorpe’s furnaces go dark, Britain’s ability to produce steel from raw iron ore will vanish, leaving it reliant on imports in an era of global instability. Starmer made this is point in his address: it is about building steel, not buying it while referring to rising global insecurities. 

Contrast With India 

Far to the east, India tells a different tale — one of resilience and ambition. 

The world’s second-largest steel producer, with 152 million tonnes (mt) crafted in FY25 and up 5 per cent y-o-y, India has its sights set on 300 mt by 2030. Fueled by sprawling infrastructure, booming housing, and a thriving manufacturing sector, its hunger for steel shows no signs of slowing. Consumption is up 10 per cent, defying global trends.

Steel majors such as JSW, JSPL, AMNS India and Tata are pouring billions into new plants, leaning heavily on blast furnaces while exploring electric arc options to trim emissions. They’ve been seeking government intervention to protect these investments from the rising influx of cheap alloys from China and imports from other ASEAN nations. A new public procurement policy has been brought in place to aid domestic steel makers in government-backed projects. 

“The blast furnace route remains our backbone,” said Amarendu Prakash, head of SAIL, India’s State-run steel titan, which is charting a ₹100,000 crore expansion.

India’s government is all in, reviving the struggling RINL (Vizag Steel) with an ₹11,000 crore lifeline, a nod to the metal’s strategic weight. Some other specialised State-owned steel and stainless steel making companies are under consideration of expansion; and some of them were taken off the divestment radar. 

Private players account for 84 per cent of India’s crude steel production, the remaining 16 per cent by State-owned enterprise. But majority of the production caters for domestic consumption.

The UK’s scramble to save Scunthorpe is a stark contrast to India’s confident stride. One nation fights to preserve a fading legacy; the other working towards the future. 

Where Britain hesitates, India charges forward.

For Britain, April 12, 2025, may mark a turning point, or merely a pause in an inevitable decline. For India, the furnaces are lit. 

Published on April 12, 2025