India's steel production is likely to surpass the domestic requirement by 2011-12, easing pressure on prices of the alloy, which has been adding to the spiralling inflation. "We shall achieve 124 million tonnes of steel capacity by 2011-12, well exceeding the requirement that would be to the tune of about 110 million tonnes at that point of time,' steel minister Ram Vilas Paswan said. Steel prices shot up by over 50% since January, adding to the woes of the UPA government, which is battling a seven-year high inflation of 8.75% in its last year. The annual demand for steel in India has been rising by about 13%, but production is growing by over 6%, according to official sources. Last fiscal, the country's crude steel production stood at 53.9 million tonnes, of which about 5 million tonnes were exported. To bridge the demand-supply mismatch, India had to import nearly 7 million tonnes of steel. Steel secretary R S Pandey while endorsing India becoming a net steel importer from being a net exporter, said the trend is likely to continue for sometime. PTI