BHUBANESWAR: Union Minister for Steel, Shri Ram Chandra Prasad Singh says in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha said, during 2021, as many as 76 Sponge Iron Industries working in Odisha. The total employment in the domestic sponge iron industry stood at about 85,000 across India during 2020-21. 285 units are working in all over India,. Steel being a deregulated sector, specific decisions regarding setting up of the sponge iron industries are taken by individual steel companies/investors based on commercial considerations and market dynamics, he added.