Domestic crude steel production rose by 5.5 per cent to 8.65 million tonnes (MT) in October 2017 compared to 8.19 MT in the same month last year, according to the official data.

"During April-October 2017, crude steel production was 58.416 MT, a growth of 4.7 per cent over the same period of the last year," the Joint Plant Committee (JPC) under the Ministry of Steel said in a report.

"SAIL, RINL, TSL, Essar, JSWL and JSPL together produced 33.515 MT," the report said, adding that the rest 24.901 MT came from other producers.

The country had produced 55.805 MT crude steel during the first seven months of the preceding fiscal.

In October, the overall production of total finished steel was at 9.354 MT, up by 6.9 per cent over October 2016.

"Production of total finished steel for sale was at 61.375 MT during April-October 2017, a growth of 5.1 per cent over same period of last year," the report said.

In April-October, hot metal output stood at 38.129 MT, registering a growth of 1.1 per cent over the same period last year, the JPC said in its report, adding, "Overall hot metal production in October 2017 (5.744 MT) was up by 3 per cent over September 2017 but was up by 2.3 per cent over October 2016."

During the seven-month period, the country's pig iron production for sale was at 5.353 MT, a decline of 2.9 per cent over the same period last year. Overall production for sale of pig iron last month at 0.777 MT was down by 0.8 per cent over September 2017 and 3.1 per cent lower when compared to October 2016.

Empowered by the Ministry of Steel, the JPC is the only institution in the country which collects data on the Indian iron and steel industry.