On January 24, 1973, to bring India’s steel industry under a cohesive framework, the Indian government established the Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL). This organisation became responsible for managing the country’s vast public sector steel assets, coordinating everything from production to technological advancements and market distribution. By this point, the public sector steel industry was India’s largest producer and employer. Under SAIL, the Indian steel industry expanded, modernized, and experimented with new technologies. This era saw the Bokaro Steel Plant come online in Jharkhand in 1972 and, later, the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant in Andhra Pradesh.