Research and Development work on Substitute Nickel-Free Austenitic Stainless Steels

THE demands of austenitic stainless steel as what is termed as `non-magnetic' in the Indian market in sheet, plate, tube and rod forms have been multiplying during each successive Five-Year Plan.Due to severe import restrictions, acute and chronic shortage of foreign exchange, the actual import figures tend to taper off
and do not represent the actual requirements of the country including stainless sheet used specifically
for engineering, chemical and dairy industries incl-
uding utensil-making and household hardware. The engi-neering uses of the stainless steel have also multi-plied with the rising tempo of industrial growth.
Likewise, stainless steel finished items and assembled
components of composite equipment etc. represent an `invisible' demand for heavy imports in one form or
the other. About a decade back, the import of stain-
less sheet alone represented about Rs 7-8 crores
(Rs 70-80 million) of import bill in foreign exchange
annually. This figure will double or treble itself,
were import restrictions to be removed.