Steel Sector Grows in April-August 2026; NMDC Sets August Record

The correct answer is 4.07 million tonnes. The review records that NMDC mined that quantity of iron ore in August 2026, which is growth of 20.8 per cent over the same month a year earlier. Option B is the trap, and a well-made one: 3.58 million tonnes is NMDC's sales figure for the same month, up 5.6 per cent over the year. Production and sales are reported side by side in the release, so a candidate who reads only the first number he sees will answer wrongly. Options A and D do not appear in the release. Two further figures belong with this answer: for April to August of the financial year, production stood at 23.23 million tonnes and sales at 18.72 million tonnes. The release also notes that the Kirandul, Bacheli and Donimalai mines each recorded their highest August production so far, which is itself a likely question.

The correct answer is NMDC. The review names the Top 7 producers as SAIL, RINL, NSL, the TSL Group, AM/NS, JSL (JSPL) and the JSW Group. NMDC does appear prominently in the same document, but as an iron ore miner rather than a steel maker in that group. It mined 4.07 million tonnes of iron ore in August 2026 and sold 3.58 million tonnes, and it lit up the indurating machine at its Nagarnar pellet plant, which has a capacity of 2 million tonnes a year. Options A, C and D are all in the group. Candidates should note the distinction the Ministry itself draws between producers of crude steel and suppliers of raw material, because questions are regularly set on the composition of the Top 7 list, and the miner's name sitting in the same release is the obvious distractor to place among them.

The correct answer is Sweden. The review records that SRTMI and SWERIM of Sweden signed a memorandum of understanding to strengthen cooperation in iron and steel research, technology and innovation. The partnership will concentrate on joint research and development, green steel, decarbonisation, the circular economy, advanced steels, artificial intelligence and machine learning, digital technologies and capacity building. Option A, Canada, is the distractor that catches most candidates, because the same document notes that Glenn Purves, Deputy Minister at Global Affairs Canada, met Steel Secretary Sandeep Poundrik to discuss bilateral cooperation. That was a meeting, not an agreement. Options B and D, Japan and Germany, are major steel-making nations but find no mention here. In such questions read the verb with care: an MoU signed is a different fact from discussions held.