The country's largest passenger car maker Maruti Suzuki said that it would start using high strength steel in majority of variants by 2012, a move that will reduce the carbon emission by decreasing the weight of vehicles.

Maruti consumes 6 lakh million tonnes of steel per annum and 50 per cent of it is being imported from Japan and Korea. "Out of the imported 50 per cent of steel, 15-20 per cent accounts for high strength steel.

According to sources, this move may spike up the input costs by 15-20%.