Rourkela (Odisha), Jun 11 (PTI) Union Steel Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh today said the Centre is keen to develop Odisha's Kalinganagar as a steel hub, as part of its plan to raise the country's steel production to 300 mt by 2030.

"Our plan is to enhance the country's steel production to 300 million tons by 2030 as per the national steel policy. As part of the strategy to achieve the goal, we are keen to develop Kalinganagar as a major steel hub," Singh told reporters during a visit to this steel city.

India is now the second largest steel producer in the world after China and this is a big achievement, he said.

The per capita steel consumption is very low and "during the last four years we have achieved a 12 per cent increase in that and today it stands at 65 kg per head," the Minister said.

"However, this is also very low and our aim is to raise it to 160 kg by 2030," he said.

Presently India is producing 102 mt of steel of which the SAIL and the Raashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited contribute over 14 per cent, said the minister.

Referring to the Rourkela Steel Plant of the SAIL, he said, the aim is to double its capacity to 8.2 mt in the next five years from the present strength of 4 mt.

In the last one year, production has gone up in secondary steel sector by 57 per cent and around 25 lakh people are engaged in different types of steel industries, which was 20 lakh in 2014, he said.

"The steel industry is going to be a major contributor in employment generation in coming days," said Singh.

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