According to recent reports, India has become the third biggest steel producer in the world during the last fiscal ended March 2010.

The country fabricated 72.786 million tonne of steel in the last financial year, said the report released by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

State owned steel firms registered a combined profit after tax (PAT) of around Rs 7,800 crore in the first nine months of the last fiscal.

The report also said that a range of innovative research and development plans and research projects were approved at a cost of around Rs 46 crore for stregthening the productivity, efficiency and competitiveness of the steel industry. (With Inputs from Agencies)