NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India will be the lone bright spot for Chinese steelmen trying to cut bloated inventories as Asia's third-largest economy embarks on a once-in-a-generation urbanisation drive under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Urban dwellers will double to more than 800 million by 2050, a scale of mass urbanisation only seen before in China. Ahead of Modi's election last May, he vowed to construct 100 so-called "smart" cities by 2022, an infrastructure project some estimate would cost $1 trillion (0.66 trillion pounds). As India build new roads, office blocks and cities, its steel consumption growth will put the country at the top of the list of the world's 10 biggest steel users this year and the next, according to the World Steel Association. Demand from China and the United States, the two largest consumers, is forecast to either fall or stay flat.
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