Question 99 from UPSC CSE 2015 - Geography

Question

In India, the steel production industry requires the import of

Accepted Answer

Correct Option: C. coking coal

Strategy: Identify the critical raw material for the Indian steel industry by filtering out non-essential inputs.

* Eliminate saltpetre and rock phosphate, as they are used in fertilizers and explosives, not steelmaking.
* Focus on coking coal, recognizing it as a key input that India must import due to insufficient domestic resources.

Key Info: **Core Inputs for Steelmaking**
The primary raw materials for the steel industry are iron ore, coking coal, and limestone.

**The Role of Coking Coal**
Coking coal is essential for the blast furnace process. Its carbon content facilitates the chemical reduction of iron ore and generates the high temperatures needed for smelting.

**India's Dependency on Imports**
India lacks sufficient domestic reserves of high-quality, low-ash, low-sulphur coking coal. Consequently, the country is heavily reliant on imports, primarily from Australia, to meet production demands. Major Indian steel producers like Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), Tata Steel, and JSW depend on these imports to bridge the supply gap.

**Materials Not Used in Steelmaking**

* **Saltpetre (Potassium Nitrate):** Primarily used in fertilizers and explosives, it has no role in steel production.
* **Rock Phosphate:** A source of phosphorus for fertilizer manufacturing, it is not a raw material for the steel industry. India's reserves of this mineral serve the agricultural sector.

Answer

Option A: saltpetre

Answer

Option B: rock phosphate

Answer

Option D: All of the above