Indigenous Steel Technology of India : What we could learn from it

Abstract

Indigenous steel making technology existed in India since thousands of years. however, the indigenous steel industry withered away, perhaps a few hundred years ago, possibly due to the lack of initiative to cope with change. Worse still, the art of steel making practised in India since antiquity has not been well documented. In the present paper, the author describes his own efforts in understanding the age—old steel making technology of India. The scientific advantage of the Indian technology is discussed and the need to imbibe from this in order to survive the challenge faced by the Indian steel industry today is highlighted. Further, the development o f a new steel making technology, christened Ressiness', incorporat-ing the advantages of both the indigenous steel technology and modern steel making practices is described.