Importance:

• The Iron and Steel industry is described as a basic Industry. 
• Iron and Steel supplied by this industry such as machineries, irrigation projects, ship building, power projects, construction of bridges, buildings, transport equipment, machine tools and so on. 
• The Production and Consumption of Iron and Steel is an index level of the economic develpoment of a country.

Distribution: 

There are nine major Iron and Steel industries in India.

• Tata Iron and Steel Company (TISCO), Jamshedpur :- It was established in 1907. It was the first largest steel plant of the country. 
• Vishveswariah Iron and Steel Co. Ltd (VISL) Bhadravathi 11 was first established in 1923 by the princely state of Mysore located at Bhadravathi in Shimoga district of Karnataka. 
• India Iron and Steel Company Ltd (IISCO) Bunpur:- It was established in 1919 at Bumpur in West Bengal. It was the second largest integrated steel plant after Tata Iron and Steel Ltd. 
• Hindustan Steel Company Ltd, Rourkela :- It was completed with the German collaboration. The steel plant was commissioned in 1955.
• Bhilai Steel Plant :- It has the largest steel production plant of the public sector. It is located at Bilai near Raipur in Chhatisgarh. 
• Durgapur Steel Plant :- The steel plant in Durgapur in West Bengal was established with British collaboration and was commissioned in 1956. 
• Salem Steel Plant:- It is located at Salem in Tamil Nadu and the production was started from 1982. 
• Vishakapatnam Steel Plant :- Established by National Ispat Nigam Ltd in Andhra Pradesh. 
• New Steel Plants Some private sectors plants are. 
• Jindal Vijaynagar Steel Ltd (JVSL) This steel plant is located at Tomagal, Bellary district in Karnataka. 
• Essar Steel Ltd (ESL) It is situated at Hazira in Gujarat. 
• Ispat Industries Ltd (IIL) It is situated at Dovi, Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra. 
• Neelachal Ispat Nigam Ltd (NINL)It is a new steel plant located at Dubai, Odisha. 
• Mini Steel Plants Presently, 199 lincensed electric ore furnace units with an installed capacity of 7.8 million tonnes have been commissioned and hence started commercial production.