India's two biggest private steelmakers are taking different paths to capitalise on the country's next phase of steel demand growth, with JSW Steel pushing for global scale while Tata Steel focuses on premium products and downstream expansion.
The divergence in strategy comes as both companies accelerate expansion plans amid expectations that India's steel demand will continue to outpace global markets over the next decade.
JSW Steel has outlined an aggressive capacity roadmap that could take its India capacity, including joint ventures, to 78 million tonnes by FY32. Tata Steel, meanwhile, said it wants leadership in specific high-margin segments such as automotive steel, branded retail products and value-added steel instead of chasing overall market share.
The contrast marks a shift in the rivalry between the two groups. The last time JSW Steel overtook Tata Steel in installed capacity was in 2009, when Sajjan Jindal-led JSW Steel surpassed Tata Steel to become India's largest private sector steel producer with installed capacity of 7.8 million tonnes.
JSW Steel said it plans to expand its standalone India capacity to 62 million tonnes by FY32, while joint ventures with Japan's JFE Steel and South Korea's POSCO would add another 16 million tonnes. Including its Ohio operations, the company said total capacity would approach 80 million tonnes.
"...this capacity would bring us to be one of the largest steel-producing companies worldwide," Joint Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Jayant Acharya said during the company's earnings call.
JSW Steel also said its Vijayanagar facility would become the world's largest single-location steel plant after a planned five-million-tonne expansion lifts capacity at the site to 25 million tonnes.
The company said India remained central to its growth plans as domestic steel demand continues to expand. Acharya said India could add 12 million tonnes to 14 million tonnes of incremental steel demand in FY27 alone.
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Tata Steel Outlined A Different Approach
"We want to be rather than overall market share... looking at specific segments where we want to be our number one," Tata Steel Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director TV Narendran said in an interview with NDTV Profit.
Narendran said Tata Steel would focus more on downstream businesses, premium steel products and high-end markets instead of pursuing overall scale.
"We'll be more and more focused on downstream value-added high end markets, and look at number one market share in auto sectors," he told NDTV Profit.
During its earnings call, Tata Steel said it remained focused on increasing market share in segments such as automotive steel, oil and gas, branded retail products and downstream businesses including tubes, wires and coated steel.
The company said it already has the option to expand domestic capacity to 45 million tonnes to 50 million tonnes through existing sites including Kalinganagar, Meramandali, Neelachal and Jamshedpur. A proposed Maharashtra project could add another five million tonnes to 10 million tonnes of capacity, Narendran said.
Tata Steel said India would remain its main growth engine, accounting for 74% of total crude steel production in FY26.
The company also said it plans to raise the share of downstream and value-added products in its overall sales mix to reduce exposure to commodity steel cycles.
"We want our downstream businesses to maybe at least be about 50% to 60% of our volume," Narendran said during the company's earnings call.
Both companies said India's infrastructure spending, manufacturing growth and automotive demand continue to support steel consumption growth despite geopolitical uncertainty and volatile raw material prices.
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