India's steel output in the first nine months of this year grew by 5.3

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per cent, compared to the world's average growth of 8.2 per cent and China's 10.7 per cent during the period.

The country produced only 53.9 million tonne steel in the January-September period, as against 51.1 million tonne in the same period last year, World Steel Association's latest data revealed.

In contrast, production in China, which is the largest producer and consumer of steel, stood at 525.7 million tonne during the first nine months, up from 474.9 million tonne in the year-ago period.

The report showed that it produced 125 million tonne more steel in the January-September period this year, from the same period in 2009. In contrast, India could only manage to raise output by just 7 million tonne since then.

China's steel output is not only the highest in the world, but also helps the world average to look healthier.

Sans the Chinese production, the world's steel growth rate would have been at 6.1 per cent in the first nine months of this year, over the same period last year.

The country's consistently high output also helped Asia to produce more than half the world's production, which stood at 1,133.8 million tonne in the January-September period of the current year. Asia produced 728.3 million tonne steel during the period.

Besides China, Japan and the US also produced more steel than India during the first nine months of this year. However, Russia and South Korea are closely trailing India, the data revealed.

During the period, Japan produced 81 million tonne steel, while the US production stood at 64.6 million tonne. Russia and South Korea produced 51.8 million tonne and 50.6 million tonne, respectively, during the same period.

Indian steel industry has grown significantly from crude steel production of less than 22 million tonne in 2000 to 70 million tonne in 2010. The government expects India's steel market to reach 180-200 million tonne by 2020 and about 500 million tonne by 2050.