India’s FY25 steel demand to be slower as elections loom: Analysts, officials
India’s steel demand will likely slow in the next financial year beginning March as a mammoth general election will delay government projects and infrastructure spending, analysts and industry executives said.
Steady government spending on infrastructure projects propelled India, the world’s second-biggest crude steel producer, into one of the fastest-growing markets for the alloy globally, even as world demand slackened.
But steel demand is expected to grow at a modest 7%-10% in the 2024-25 fiscal year, slower than a projected 11%-12% growth in the current year to March 2024, the analysts and industry executives said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party will seek a third term in the next general elections due in early 2024. Staggered voting in India’s general elections, the world’s largest democratic exercise, takes place for weeks.