I steered northwards, skirting hot Indian region (5)
I believe the answer is:
delhi
'indian region' is the definition.
(Indian capital and surrounding area)
'i steered northwards skirting hot' is the wordplay.
'steered' becomes 'led' (lead can mean to direct or steer).
'northwards' shows that the letters should be reversed in order (in a down clue, letters go up or 'north').
'skirting' indicates putting letters inside.
'hot' becomes 'h' (abbreviation eg on taps).
'i'+'led'='iled'
'iled' backwards is 'deli'.
'deli' placed around 'h' is 'DELHI'.
(Other definitions for delhi that I've seen before include "Indian state" , "Asian city" , "New -, Asian capital" , "Plumbing ring" , "Indian capital city" .)