ABOUT US

Steel Furnace Association of India (SFAI) is the oldest Association in the Iron and Steel sector. It was registered in 1964 at Kolkata and subsequently shifted to New Delhi in the year 1973 when substantial steelmaking capacity through electric arc furnace route came up in North India. The founder chairman of the Association was Late Shri Viren J Shah, the then Chairman and Managing Director of Mukand Steel Ltd. Several leading names in the steel sector have donned the position of chairman of SFAI. Some names of the past chairman of SFAI are as follows:

i) Viren J Shah, CMD, Mukand Steel Ltd
ii) Om Prakash Tantia, Bhartiya Electric Steel Co.
iii) C.R. Rathi, Rathi Alloy Steel Ltd
iv) S.K. Agrawala, Usha Martin Ltd
v) Mohan Lal Mittal, Chairman Andhra Steel Ltd*
vi) S.N. Agarwal, Bhoruka Steel Ltd
vii) Vinod Shah, Mukand Steel Ltd
viii) S.K. Ahluwalia, Mukand Steel Ltd (former Director Commercial SAIL)
ix) Amarjit Goyal, CMD, Modern Steel
x) N.C. Mathur, Jindal Stainless Ltd

Presently, Mr. M.K. Gupta, Chairman, Star Wire Ltd is the chairman of the Association. The names of Association’s Vice-Chairman are also given below:

i) C.M. Sanghvi, Sanghvi Steel Ltd, Mumbai
ii) Rajiv Rai, MD, RKKR Steel, Chennai
iii) S.K. Agarwala, Usha Martin Ltd

Before liberalization of Indian economy in 1991, the steelmaking was reserved for public sector, except mini-steel plants based on electric arc furnaces and as such SFAI was representing the interests of this sector. After the liberalization of the Indian economy, most of the members have expanded their capacities substantially through backward and forward integration and attained the status of integrated steel plants. Therefore, the canvas of the SFAI has been enlarged to include all the steel producing units who have adopted alternative routes of steelmaking. Today, SFAI is the most broad-based Association in the steel sector.

The Association is represented in all the important committees / working groups constituted by the government from time to time to examine / analyze various issues facing the steel sector. SFAI is also member of Steel Committees constituted by various chambers of industry like CII, FICCI, ASSOCHAM and PHD. The Executive Director of SFAI is represented in the Board of Governors of National Institute of Secondary Steel Technology (NISST).

The Association interacts with the regularly and disseminates a variety of information and keep them informed about issues relating to environment, energy conservation, climate change, research & development and several other regulatory issues. The Association is also scanning news relating to steel, coal, power and other economic issues having impact on the steel sector, appearing in well known economic dailies and a “Weekly News Roundup” is sent to all the Members at the week-end.

The Association also organized following two conferences / seminars at New Delhi for discussing various issues facing the steel industry in the country:

i) International Conference on March 23-24, 2012 – “Indian Steel Industry: Challenges and Opportunities” at Park Hotel, Parliament Street, New Delhi
ii) Golden Jubilee Celebration (1964-2014) of the Association on February 20, 2015 at India International Centre, Lodhi Road, New Delhi

Both the above events were very successful and were addressed by eminent speakers from steel industry and government departments. More than 100 delegates from steel companies and government officials participated in each of the conferences. Some snap shots of the events are displayed on the Association’s website.