where, G and b are the shear modulus and Burgers vector of FCC phase respectively . D and f are the average size and volume fraction of B2 precipitates respectively ). In Table . 2, for banded Fe-15Mn-10Al-5Ni-0.8C (wt.%) steel, due to the presence of coarse B2 precipitates (very large value of D in equation ( )) with very low fraction (𝑓𝐵2) in FCC matrix, as illustrated in Ref. , the contribution of σFCC-ppt towards strengthening in the banded Fe-15Mn-10Al-5Ni-0.8C (wt.%) steel is considered to be negligible (in Table . 2) unlike that in band-free Fe-16Mn-8Al-5Ni-1C (wt.%) steel where a large fraction of fine B2 precipitates were shown to be present in FCC matrix ). Gao et al. ) have reported that B2 phase plays a vital role in influencing the strength and ductility of Fe-20Mn-8Al-5Ni-0.8C (wt.%) steel. It was shown that strain partitioning between FCC matrix and B2 precipitates at the initial stages of tensile deformation is associated with Luders Band formation . In addition, it was highlighted that the dislocation density in B2 phase increases with progress of tensile deformation (Gao et al. B2 stringer-free Fe-16Mn-8Al-5Ni-1C (wt.%) lightweight steel has been reported to show a smaller fraction of B2 particles than that of B2 stringer-containing steels. Secondly, the content of FCC stabilizers, especially Mn, should be adjusted for the purpose of avoiding the formation of B2 stringers. Based on the two aforementioned criterion, a new alloy composition, viz. Fe-21Mn-10Al-5Ni-1C (wt.%) was devised . Ageing (at 550 °C for 10 mins)