With the Union Budget 2026-27, the Government of India has planned a record INR 12.2 lakh crore of capital expenditure, up ~12% year-on-year and more than 4x the FY18 outlay. Roads, railways, housing, defense and green energy are all steel-intensive – and that’s exactly where the money is going.

India is already the world’s second-largest producer of crude steel, with about 151 million tons of output in FY25 and about 150 million tons of finished steel consumption. The World Steel Association says that India’s demand for steel will rise by about 9% in both 2025 and 2026, making it the fastest-growing country in the world. This will add about 75 MT of demand per year compared to 2020.

In this backdrop, investors naturally gravitate toward the top 10 steel companies in India. But among dozens of listed names, which should be on the radar – and which one could be the “best steel company in India” for different risk profiles? Let’s find out:

How We Picked Top 10 Steel Companies in India

This list of the top steel companies in India focuses on 10 liquid, listed names that combine size, capital efficiency and clear growth roadmaps. Think of it as a curated basket:

• Scale and liquidity: We usually see a market cap of more than INR 3,000 crore with active trading, which makes positions scalable.
• Return on capital employed (ROCE): This is very important in a cyclical sector with a lot of capital. We look for ROCE in the double digits or a clear upward trend.
• Integration and value-added mix: Players with captive raw materials, power, or a large share of value-added or downstream products are preferred.
• Capex and guidance to FY27: There is a clear picture of how much capacity can be added or how the product mix can be improved to keep up with the 9% demand CAGR.

Names like Hindalco are not included because they are mostly non-ferrous. The focus here is on ferrous and tubes, where steel prices are the main factor.

List of Top 10 Steel Companies in India

JSW Steel: Best Steel Company in India

JSW Steel would be the initial selection for many institutional investors if they had to choose one large-cap company for their portfolio.

JSW is India’s largest steel producer by capacity, with about 35.7 million tons per year (MTPA). By FY31, it plans to reach 51.5 MTPA through brownfield debottlenecking and new projects. JSW is a direct play on rising per-capita steel consumption and premiumization because of its growth, high utilization, and mix of coated, automotive, and high-strength steels.

Profit dropped sharply in FY25 as prices corrected, but in Q1 FY26, earnings bounced back strongly. Net profit more than doubled year on year, and EBITDA margins grew to about 17% as raw material costs went down and domestic prices stabilized. Management commentary and recent investor presentations continue to call for disciplined capital spending (around INR 20,000 crore for FY26) and a focus on paying off debt, to significantly improve ROCE as new capacity comes online.

Tata Steel

Tata Steel is unique in that it combines India’s infrastructure-driven growth with a restructuring story in Europe. The Indian operations are competitive on a global scale, but the European business has always been a problem that is finally being solved.

In Q3 FY26, the company’s consolidated net profit rose more than nine times year-on-year to about INR 2,730 crore. This was thanks to a big turnaround in its Netherlands operations, even though India continued to see steady volume growth (production up about 11% and deliveries up about 14% YoY). Tata has been making its portfolio simpler over the past two years. It has been moving toward high-margin value-added categories and negotiating government-backed decarbonization packages for its UK plant.

The company is still adding capacity in India at Kalinganagar and in downstream auto and construction steels, with a medium-term goal of ~30 MTPA domestic capacity. Tata Steel has a 1.8% dividend yield and a balance sheet that is getting better. This means it offers both income and cyclical upside. It is a good choice for conservative portfolios looking for the best steel company in India, not just high-beta stocks.

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Jindal Steel & Power

Jindal Steel & Power (JSPL) is the best high-beta stock among the top steel companies in India. Its earnings are unpredictable, but it has a lot of operating leverage when the economy turns around.

The company has laid out an aggressive capital expenditure plan of about INR 16,000 crore for FY26–28, with a focus on value-added products (rails, structurals) and logistics infrastructure. As these projects get going, analysts think that steel sales will grow at a rate of about 15% per year between FY24 and FY27. Returns on capital have already gone up from single digits to low double digits, and management has always talked about getting rid of debt and increasing margins.

Of course, the high P/E multiple in the 40s shows how optimistic people are about growth. JSPL is not the best steel company in India based on trailing earnings. But for investors who are okay with volatility, it gives them a leveraged bet on both domestic infrastructure and export markets. If management meets its volume and margin targets going into FY27, there is a lot of room for growth.

SAIL

Among public-sector steel companies in India, SAIL is the purest proxy on government-led infra spending. It runs multiple integrated plants across the country and remains a dominant supplier to railways, defence and state-led construction.

Financially, SAIL has crossed the INR 1 lakh crore turnover mark for three consecutive years, delivering its best-ever sales turnover of about INR 1,04,545 crore in FY24, even though profitability has been cyclical. Latest data show ROCE still in the mid-single digits (~6–7%), reminding investors that PSU steel is more volume-than-margin centric.

However, with the Union Budget’s sustained focus on railways, defence and affordable housing, SAIL’s high fixed-cost base can work in its favour when utilisation rises. For investors building a diversified basket of top steel companies in India, SAIL is a useful, high-beta satellite exposure to the public-capex theme – but it’s rarely a “buy and forget” stock.

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Jindal Stainless: Stainless Steel Company in India to Watch

If you’re specifically hunting for a stainless steel company in India with scale, balance-sheet strength and clear growth visibility, Jindal Stainless is hard to ignore.

The company has a capacity of about 3 million tons per year across Odisha and Hisar, and it is taking advantage of the growing demand for stainless steel in kitchenware, elevators, metro rail, electric vehicles, and industrial uses. Jindal Stainless made about INR 10,500 crore in sales in the third quarter of FY26. This was a 6% increase from the previous year. The company also sold 11% more stainless steel than the previous year and had an EBITDA/tonne of about INR 21,600. Its margins were still healthy at 13.4%, and its PAT grew by 21%.

APL Apollo Tubes

APL Apollo is more about steel products that are designed than about blast furnaces. It controls the market for structural steel tubes with a 55–60% share and a capacity of 4.5 MTPA. By FY28–30, it wants to reach 6.8–10 MTPA. Its hollow sections and new structural solutions are taking the place of traditional RCC more and more in warehouses, airports, metro stations, and high-rise buildings.

Volumes have been steadily rising over the past eight quarters. In Q3 FY26, volumes reached a record high of about 0.9 MT, an 11% increase from the previous year. APL Apollo gained market share in both retail and B2B projects. The company looks more like a structural growth play than a simple cyclical because ROCE is above 20% and dividend payments are starting to rise.

Given its valuation premium (P/E >50x), APL Apollo is not for deep-value hunters. But for investors who believe the future of construction lies in faster, lighter, steel-intensive solutions, it belongs firmly on the list of top steel companies in India.

Godawari Power & Ispat

Godawari Power & Ispat combines iron-ore mining, pellets, sponge iron and value-added steel products with captive power – a powerful integration for margin stability. Recent quarters have seen some margin compression as realisations softened, but volumes in mining and pellets have grown briskly.

In Q2 FY26, production of iron ore, pellets and value-added products rose strongly, pellet sales volumes surged 71% YoY, and EBITDA margins – while down sequentially – remained around 20%. ROCE sits in the mid-20s, well above many larger peers, aided by backward integration and discipline on expansion.

For investors comfortable owning mid-caps, Godawari acts as a geared play on both steel demand and pellet exports, with better capital efficiency than most commodity peers. It often appears in portfolios that want exposure beyond the headline Nifty steel names.

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Sarda Energy & Minerals

Sarda Energy flies under the radar despite being one of the more interesting integrated steel companies in India. It runs sponge iron and steel facilities, ferro-alloy plants and captive thermal and hydro power assets, giving it a diversified earnings engine.

The market became aware of this in FY25: in Q1 FY26, net profit more than doubled, leading to a 20% single-day rally as investors re-rated the stock due to stronger margins and the growing contribution from hydropower. ROCE has moved into the mid-teens, and management continues to flag capex that prioritises returns over sheer volume.

Sarda is not a large-cap, but it offers a differentiated risk–reward mix—partly commodity steel, partly higher-margin alloys and power—making it a compelling satellite pick in any basket of top steel companies in India.

Kalyani Steels

Kalyani Steels is the specialty long-steel arm of the broader Kalyani Group, supplying alloy and carbon steel bars for automotive, engineering and now defence applications. ROCE has hovered in the mid-teens, supported by a relatively conservative balance sheet and efficient operations.

The real excitement, however, lies in forward capex. Odisha’s state cabinet recently cleared an INR 17,250-crore integrated manufacturing complex at Dhenkanal, which will house a 0.7 MTPA specialty steel plant and a titanium/aerospace components facility under various Kalyani Group entities. While the listed company’s exact economic interest will evolve, the ecosystem it plugs into – autos, aerospace, and defense—is clearly moving up the value chain.

Ratnamani is a different company from blast-furnace players: it manufactures carbon and stainless-steel pipes and tubes used in oil & gas, water, city gas distribution and process industries. This niche positioning yields structurally higher margins and ROCE – currently above 20% – with modest leverage.

Over the last few years, Ratnamani has benefited from city gas and water pipeline orders as well as refinery and petrochemical capex. The order book has stayed healthy even as commodity prices gyrated, underlining the company’s project-driven, value-added business model. For investors constructing a diversified metals basket, Ratnamani adds defensiveness and steady growth, balancing the more volatile earnings of pure steelmakers.