Ishita Ayan Dutt

All stories by Ishita Ayan Dutt

Steel firms prep for festivals, see demand by auto, consumer goods sectors

Steel firms prep for festivals, see demand by auto, consumer goods sectors

Rediff.com1 days ago

The festive season will mean business for the steel industry as it is the time when automotive and consumer appliance companies bump up demand to prepare for higher sales, experts have said. Ranjan Dhar, chief marketing officer at ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India (AM/NS India), said that bookings by auto and consumer appliance industries are 20 per cent higher ahead of the festive season compared to last year. "While this could be for a couple of months, it could normalise later at approximately 10 per cent," he said.

How Eveready plans to double revenue

How Eveready plans to double revenue

Rediff.com11 Sep 2023

Eveready Industries India will launch a new category in Financial Year 2024-25 (FY25) as it works to double revenue, said a senior executive of the country's largest dry cell battery maker. It could be an adjacency or a new product under the Eveready brand and a final decision is expected by the end of this financial year. "We are currently working on that exercise; it's on the drawing board," said Suvamoy Saha, managing director of Eveready.

Indian steel sector flags Chinese imports, wants 'trade distortions' fixed

Indian steel sector flags Chinese imports, wants 'trade distortions' fixed

Rediff.com29 Aug 2023

Worried by a spike in Chinese imports, the Indian Steel Association (ISA) plans to take up the matter with the government and seek measures to fix "trade distortions". Alok Sahay, secretary general of the group that represents the country's steel producers, said systemic changes were needed. "In order to take any trade measure, it takes a minimum of 15 months' time, due to prevalence of lesser duty rule in India, making India an easy target. "We are going to write to the government on this," he said.

Tata Steel to bid for iron ore mines ahead of expiry of leases in 2030

Tata Steel to bid for iron ore mines ahead of expiry of leases in 2030

Rediff.com15 Aug 2023

Tata Steel has built an iron ore chest of nearly 600 million tonnes (mt) and will look for more as it prepares for life beyond 2030 when its legacy captive mines come up for auction. The lease for four of its existing iron ore mines -- Joda East, Noamundi, Katamati, and Khondbond -- that feed the domestic operation with low-cost iron ore is going to expire in 2030, following changes in mining regulations. The year will also coincide with Tata Steel's ambitious target of doubling steelmaking capacity in India to 40 mt, increasing the need for iron ore. The company is pushing the pedal to ensure that it has enough resources to meet enhanced needs.

'Pace of engagement with UK has picked up'

'Pace of engagement with UK has picked up'

Rediff.com4 Aug 2023

'As Tata Steel we will obviously use group-level leverage to make progress where we want.'

'Steel prices have already bottomed out'

'Steel prices have already bottomed out'

Rediff.com4 Aug 2023

'While lower steel prices may impact a part of the quarter, this will be offset by softer raw material prices.'

Betting on India's growth, top steel firms in midst of big expansion plans

Betting on India's growth, top steel firms in midst of big expansion plans

Rediff.com18 Jul 2023

On June 30, mining and metals giant Vedanta, announced that it had decided to initiate a strategic review of its steel and steel-making raw material businesses. The review would begin immediately and evaluate a broad range of options, including but not limited to a potential strategic sale of some or all of the steel businesses, the company said in its stock exchange filing. The signs have been there - approaches had been made to steel players over the past year. Last December, Anil Agarwal, chairman Vedanta group, told Business Standard that the steel plant capacity was about 3 million tonnes (mt).

As EVs rise in India, a requiem for Kolkata's electric trams

As EVs rise in India, a requiem for Kolkata's electric trams

Rediff.com4 Jul 2023

Kolkata trams -- now in their 150th year -- are the last to survive modernity in Indian cities, writes Ishita Ayan Dutt.

Reading the tea leaves: Low production stirs chai industry's teapot

Reading the tea leaves: Low production stirs chai industry's teapot

Rediff.com13 Jun 2023

The tea industry's cup of woes brimmeth - scanty rainfall and pest attacks have dragged down production in May, prices are lower than last year, and demand from some export markets is muted. Production in North Bengal - comprising the Dooars, Terai, and Darjeeling - is majorly affected; parts of Assam are also hit. Arijit Raha, secretary general, Indian Tea Association (ITA), said that the Tea Board numbers for April show a crop loss of about 9 per cent for North Bengal, compared to last year.

Howrah Bridge Heads For Health Check-up

Howrah Bridge Heads For Health Check-up

Rediff.com2 Jun 2023

'We need to find out whether any structural element has got fatigue.' 'We want to increase the lifespan of the bridge.'

'Will come to decision on UK biz in 12 to 24 months'

'Will come to decision on UK biz in 12 to 24 months'

Rediff.com16 May 2023

'It's an open secret that the UK business is structurally not in a great place.'

Secret recipe of ITC's mega success

Secret recipe of ITC's mega success

Rediff.com23 Mar 2023

A hotel in 1975, entry into paperboards in 1979, India's dominant cigarette maker, ITC, read the tea - or tobacco - leaves early, leveraged its enterprise strengths and stepped up the diversification agenda to create multiple drivers of growth. Some failed, some faltered, some were transformational, adding steadily to the top line. Now those efforts are making a difference: margins from non-cigarettes - FMCG, hotels, agri, paperboards, paper and packaging - are expanding and profits are kicking in more significantly than ever before.

WB Panchayat Polls: Dry Run For TMC, BJP

WB Panchayat Polls: Dry Run For TMC, BJP

Rediff.com4 Mar 2023

'For the politics of patronage in West Bengal, it has always been important to have territorial control.'

Why the British operations remain a drag on Tata Steel's performance

Why the British operations remain a drag on Tata Steel's performance

Rediff.com22 Feb 2023

Tata Steel has a very British problem. The performance of Europe dragged the steel major's October-December (Q3FY23) performance with the UK business accounting for a major part of the operating loss; on the bottom line, the overhang of the British Steel Pension Scheme (BSPS) showed. And a nearly three-year discussion with the UK government on a support package for a green transition resulted in an offer that fell short of the ask.

Finally, a shimmer of hope for the 'golden fibre'

Finally, a shimmer of hope for the 'golden fibre'

Rediff.com25 Sep 2022

In the early part of 1800, a 30-acre plot next to Fort Gloster on the banks of river Hooghly in Howrah district of Bengal was the nerve centre of industrial activity; it housed India's first steam-powered cotton mill, Bowreah Mills, which was set up by a British merchant and went on to become a hub of factories - a rum distillery, foundry, cotton yarn factory, an oil mill and a paper mill, et al. Spearheaded by Dwarkanath Tagore, the industrialist grandfather of Rabindranath Tagore, the commercial complex was possibly the first of its kind in the country. Close to 200 years later, after much ebb and flow of history, the hub is set for a resurgence of sorts.

Will Partha's arrest in SSC scam impact Mamata?

Will Partha's arrest in SSC scam impact Mamata?

Rediff.com10 Aug 2022

After the Trinamool's overwhelming majority in the West Bengal assembly elections last year, the SSC scam has given fresh ammunition to the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Communist Party of India-Marxist. Ishita Ayan Dutt reports.

Sri Lankan crisis: Indian orthodox tea gets a boost

Sri Lankan crisis: Indian orthodox tea gets a boost

Rediff.com30 Jun 2022

It's a busy season for Indian producers of orthodox tea. As Sri Lanka, the world's largest supplier of orthodox tea, struggles with its worst economic crisis, a window of opportunity has opened up in neighbouring India. Calls to Indian planters and exporters from foreign buyers of Sri Lankan orthodox tea are pouring in and the buoyant sentiment is reflecting in prices at auction centres. Orthodox tea refers to loose-leaf tea which is produced using traditional or orthodox methods such as plucking, withering, rolling, oxidation and drying.

ITC's luxury project in Colombo hit as Sri Lanka economy sinks

ITC's luxury project in Colombo hit as Sri Lanka economy sinks

Rediff.com30 Jun 2022

ITC's first foreign venture in the hotel space - a premium and luxury mixed-use development - has been "adversely impacted" by Sri Lanka's economic crisis, the firm said. The $300-million project under WelcomHotels Lanka (Private) Limited (WLPL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of ITC, comprises a luxury hotel and a super-premium residential apartment complex on 5.86 acres of prime sea-facing land in Colombo. In its latest annual report for financial year 2021-22 (FY22), ITC mentioned that the project's construction was running on schedule till the third quarter (Q3) of FY19, but was adversely impacted due to disruptions in the aftermath of the terror incidents in 2019 and thereafter by recurrent waves of the Covid-19 pandemic.

What makes Essar steel sector's comeback kid

What makes Essar steel sector's comeback kid

Rediff.com21 Jun 2022

Apart from being the most successful cases under the IBC, Bhushan Steel and Essar Steel are among the best steel assets in the country. They also ended up helping their lenders get back a significant chunk of the money while allowing Tata Steel to consolidate its position and giving the world's two largest steel makers - ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel - a strong foothold in India. A significant contrast was the pace at which these two cases were resolved under the bankruptcy code. In the annals of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), Essar Steel may go down in history as the most noticeable resolution with the world's largest steelmaker, ArcelorMittal, and the incumbent, Ruia family, locked in an intense battle spanning more than two years and ultimately resulting in full recovery of the principal amount for the financial creditors.

Hindustan Motors plots a comeback; talks on for JV with European co for EVs

Hindustan Motors plots a comeback; talks on for JV with European co for EVs

Rediff.com25 May 2022

The country's first ever carmaker, Hindustan Motors, is looking at a second coming. Talks are on for a joint venture with a European auto company focused on the electric vehicle (EV) space. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) has been signed and due diligence is expected to start shortly and will take 2-3 months to conclude.

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