Stainless steel is set to play a massive role in India’s mega urban projects, from the Dharavi redevelopment to metro expansion and the Vadhavan port. In this interview, SVR Srinivas dwells on the opportunities for stainless steel in infrastructure, defence, aerospace, and sustainable innovation.

India is on the verge of a huge urban renewal as it undertakes various transformative projects. With projects like the Dharavi redevelopment, metro rail expansion, and the upcoming Vadhavan port on the cards, stainless steel is emerging as a critical material. Stainless steel, with its proven track record in durability, sustainability, and innovation, will play a pivotal role in India’s development.

In this exclusive interview conducted at the Global Stainless Steel Expo 2025 in Mumbai, where SVR Srinivas, IAS, and Former CEO, Dharavi Redevelopment Authority, graced the Stainless Steel Summit 2025 as the keynote speaker, he sheds light on how stainless steel can potentially redefine India’s infrastructure and why innovation and sustainability are important for the industry’s growth.

Being on top of Asia’s largest slum development project right now, how do you see the Stainless Steel Summit contributing to opportunities when we talk about raw materials?

Among all the materials that are in construction globally, nationally and even in the Mumbai metropolitan region, stainless steel is by far the most important material, and as an alloy with chromium, stainless steel plays a significant role, especially in the urban infrastructure and the national infrastructure. This summit in Mumbai is a good opportunity for industry interaction at the CEO level. I addressed the CEOs of various stainless steel companies, and that interaction will come out with certain things, especially focusing on the MSME sectors. Coming to the Government of India’s Make in India campaign, the necessity today is to adapt and to innovate to ensure that these MSMEs reach and adapt the standards of Industry 4.0 and also green steel technologies in terms of sustainability. So, innovation and sustainability should be the main themes for such conferences.

Tell us about the Dharavi opportunity for the stainless steel industry.

I will not speak specifically about Dharavi, but I am sure any construction, much more so in an ultra-mega project like that, offers tremendous opportunities for not just the stainless steel industry but also for the steel industry as well as all the materials involved in the world’s largest urban renewal project.

You have been involved in metro projects and mega urban landscape projects. Does stainless steel hold huge potential in such projects?

Definitely. I just mentioned to the CEOs when I addressed them that steel like orthotropic steel is unheard of in India; we use that, but stainless steel is much more standard, has much more history, and is more time-tested. So, in the construction of indoor materials, the construction of buildings, convention centres, urban infrastructure projects like metro stations, or the ports that are coming up, including the soon-to-start Vadhavan port, which will be three times bigger than JNPT, which is India’s largest, stainless steel has tremendous potential and a very good opportunity. But the industry has to adapt and innovate; only then will this be realised. This is my message to the industry.

How about the use of stainless steel in the defence and aerospace industries?

Yes, defence and aerospace do use stainless steel. That is another huge sector which has a bright future, much more than what it did in the past, especially in India.