The following is an edited excerpt from the interview with Suman Kumar Bal, CSMO – Specialty Alumina Business, Hindalco Industries Limited, featured in the March issue of Iron & Steel Review magazine. In this conversation, he explores the key forces reshaping India’s iron and steel industry and their implications for the refractory ecosystem. He also highlights the convergence of scale, sustainability, and specialisation, while examining how increasingly intensive steelmaking processes are elevating the role of advanced alumina as a critical performance enabler in modern refractory solutions.
The iron and steel industry has grown significantly in scale over the past decade. What changes do you see as most consequential for the industry and its ecosystem today?
The transformation of India’s iron and steel industry has been remarkable. India’s per capita steel consumption stands at approximately 100-105 kg compared to the global average of around ~220 kg. This gap is not a deficit; it is an opportunity of extraordinary magnitude. The government’s projection of reaching 300 MT capacity by 2030-31, up from 200 MT today, represents a fundamental shift in India’s infrastructure backbone and global competitiveness.
I see four interconnected forces reshaping the industry. First is volume growth meeting quality intensity. As steelmaking becomes more efficient and demanding, the specific consumption of high-quality alumina in refractories is rising significantly. Second is the specialty steel revolution. Government-supported PLI schemes have catalysed significant investment momentum targeting auto-grade steel, electrical steel, and high-grade alloys — applications that demand refractory performance at a completely different level, where higher purity and advanced alumina grades become non-negotiable.
Third, and perhaps most transformative, is the sustainability imperative. India’s Green Steel Mission, the Green Steel Taxonomy introduced in 2024, and the shift toward natural gas-based/hydrogen-supported DRI are fundamentally redefining steelmaking, changing furnace operating conditions and the thermal and chemical demands on refractories. Fourth is the competitive pressure for self-reliance amid fluctuating import-export dynamics, which underscores the need for domestic competitiveness across the value chain.
At Hindalco, our large-scale, integrated operations across Belagavi and Muri, expanding specialty alumina portfolio, and industry-leading sustainability credentials position us to enable the market to scale with technically superior, sustainable solutions. The most consequential change is the convergence of all these trends into one integrated imperative, requiring a refractory raw material ecosystem that can match this evolutionary stride for stride.
Steelmaking today is far more intense and efficient than it was even a decade ago. What does this shift mean for refractory materials and the role of advanced alumina?
You are absolutely right. Modern steelmaking has fundamentally changed, and this directly reshapes what we demand from refractory materials. Let me illustrate with a few critical shifts we are witnessing.
First, the rise of Direct Reduced Iron (DRI) technology, particularly natural gas-based and increasingly hydrogen-supported processes, is transforming the operational environment inside furnaces. As the industry moves toward hydrogen as a reducing agent, supported by carbon in transitional phases, the thermal and chemical dynamics in these systems become far more aggressive. Refractories must withstand higher temperature variations, more reducing atmospheres, and longer campaign lives. This means the quality bar for raw materials like alumina has moved significantly higher.
Second, refractory efficiency today is intrinsically linked to raw material purity. Low impurity alumina translates directly into better refractory performance, reduced slag penetration, improved corrosion resistance, and extended service life. Our high-calcined alumina grades, reactive alumina series, and emerging products like white fused alumina are designed precisely for these demanding applications.
Third, the sustainability imperative is driving interest in recyclable raw materials, but with a strategic nuance: recycled material is more effective when aided by high-quality synthetic alumina, particularly for matrix compositions. Superior raw materials not only enable better-performing refractories but also make recycling meaningful, creating a virtuous cycle that supports both operational efficiency and sustainability.
What advanced alumina brings to this equation is precision and consistency. In an era where every percentage point of efficiency matters, these are not just technical improvements – they are competitive advantages.
The role of advanced alumina has evolved from being a commodity input to a performance enabler. And at Hindalco, we are deeply invested in staying ahead of this curve through continuous innovation and customer collaboration.
