The Steel Sector in India has traversed a fascinating journey from a mere one million tonne at the time of independence to 120 million tonnes in the last financial year said Shri Ram chandra Prasad Singh here last evening in an official event to present National Metallurgist Award -2021.
The Union Steel Minister, Shri Ram Chandra Prasad Singh in his address elaborated that due to versatility and longevity of steel He foresees that steel application across segments will see a quantum jump. He also said that newer areas of usage such as increasing deployment of drone technology will provide ample opportunities to the steel players.
The Minister said, he expects Indigenous Research and Development in Iron and Steel Sector will rise to the next level and will be central to the growth of the sector in times to come.
The Secretary Steel, Shri Sanjay Singh said that Indian Steel Industry is on the cusp of transition. This phase of transition can only be driven by strong Research and Development, which would address the need for green steel, reduce carbon emission and efficiency in steel production.
Awardees of National Metallurgist Award have been shortlisted by Ministry of steel through a very well-conceived and transparent process by two stage mechanism of screening committee and selection committee. The applications for participation in award process were invited by the Ministry through a notification.
The following awardees were presented the award for 2021 by Hon’ble Union Minister of Steel –
| S No. | Name | Award Category |
| 1 | Sri Hemant Madhusudan Nerurkar | Lifetime Achievement Award |
| 2 | Sri B S Murty | National Metallurgist Award |
| 3 | Sri Gnanaprakasam Balachandran | Award for R&D in Iron & Steel Sector |
| 4 | Sri Pratik Swarup Dash | Certificate of Excellence (R&D in Iron & Steel Sector) |
| 5 | Sri Ashok Kamraj | Young Metallurgist (Metal Science) Award |
| 6 | Ms Minal Shah | Young Metallurgist (Metal Science) Award |
These Awards have been instituted to recognize outstanding contribution of Metallurgist who are working across value chain of Iron and Steel Industry covering areas of Manufacturing, R & D , Design ,Waste Management , Education , Energy Conservation and finally those working towards making the steel sector ‘Atmanirbhar’
Ministry of Steel expects that the rationalized awards will be a great motivator for the metallurgists working in the field of Iron and Steel Industry.