India’s metals trade pattern demonstrates a structural asymmetry; exporting low-value bulk while importing high-value niche inputs, exposing vulnerabilities that constrain downstream industrialisation and compromise resilience.

The country today stands at an inflection point in the Metals & Metallurgy Industry (MMI) constituting HSN:72-83, where trade imbalances have grown from episodic fluctuations into a structural liability. Illustratively, India’s metals deficit reached $14.15 billion in 2024, making up (-)5.4 per cent of the overall trade deficit of $261 billion. In last two decades, India has become a net importer, from being an exporter in 2004 with $1.96 billion surplus.

India possesses abundant ores but has failed to convert this advantage into durable industrial strength, with

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