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Tata Steel bets big on India growth, says Chairman N Chandrasekaran

India remains the fastest-growing major economy, with growth supported by favourable demographics, ongoing structural reforms, low inflation, and targeted fiscal incentives, Chairman of Tata Steel N Chandrasekaran said in a letter to shareholders. 'A combination of rate cuts, higher capital expenditure, and tax benefits is expected to drive private investment and discretionary consumption,' he said, adding that India is poised to lead global steel consumption by 2026. Chandra said global steel output in FY2024-25 was stable at 1.83 billion tonnes, but despite this, margins remained under pressure due to supply chain volatility, although coking coal prices were lower. India's steel sector outperformed global peers, with crude steel output rising 4.7 per cent on a year-on-year basis and steel consumption surging 10.2 per cent year-on-year. The growth was driven by construction, urbanisation, and industrial activity, he said. In India, the company ran operations at near full capacity utilisation across sites, with highest-ever crude steel production of 21.7 million tonnes and deliveries of 20.9 million tonnes. The company commissioned India's largest blast furnace (5 MTPA) at Kalinganagar — part of the ₹27,000 crore Phase II expansion — while Neelachal Ispat Nigam Limited (NINL) delivered strong performance with ₹1,000 crore EBITDA and generated positive free cash flow, Chandrasekaran said. In Europe, Tata Steel is advancing a major transition to low-emission steelmaking. In the UK, two blast furnaces at Port Talbot have been decommissioned to make way for a next-generation electric arc furnace (EAF) backed by £500 million in UK government funding. Construction begins in July this year, with fixed costs targeted to decline from £762 million to £540 million in FY2025-26. In the Netherlands, the company ran at near-rated capacity while progressing on a decarbonisation roadmap. Tata Steel Nederland is finalising a joint Letter of Intent with the Dutch government to support a shift to DRI-EAF-based steelmaking, with one blast furnace and one coke oven to be retired by 2030. A €500 million cost transformation plan is also underway. Tata Steel CEO & MD T.V. Narendran and ED & CFO Koushik Chatterjee reaffirmed focus on capex, efficiency, and sustainability as levers for future growth. On the deleveraging front, the company reduced net debt by ₹6,200 crore in H2 FY2024-25 to ₹82,579 crore. 'The company will stay the course in FY2025-26 by improving cash flows through cost take-out initiatives and operational efficiencies to bring down our debt level further,' the officials said.