Among the Sensex firms, Asian Paints, Tata Steel, HCL Technologies, Nestle, Maruti, JSW Steel, NTPC and Larsen & Toubro were the major laggards. Sun Pharma, Bajaj Finserv, Reliance Industries, State Bank of India and Bharti Airtel were the gainers.
Just days before the G-20 summit in London, the commerce ministry has recommended anti-dumping duty on cold-rolled stainless steel originating in eight countries, including China.
The revised duty will come into effect from midnight on February 24.
The growth of eight key infrastructure sectors rose to a 14-month high of 12.1 per cent in August 2023 against 4.2 per cent a year ago, mainly due to expansion in production of coal, crude oil, and natural gas, according to the official data released on Friday. The expansion in August is the highest since June 2022, when it was 13.2 per cent. The production of refinery products, steel, cement and electricity also grew in August, the data showed.
"We have appointed a committee to examine the structure and functioning of four companies (MSTC, FSNL, KIOCL and HSCL) and make recommendations regarding their re-organisation, merger with other companies or other structural re-organisation as warranted," Steel Secretary P K Rastogi told PTI. The steel ministry is of the view that the proposed restructuring will enhance the efficiency and profitability of these companies, Rastogi said.
The government will create an 'empowered mechanism' to expedite investment proposals of Rs 11 lakh crore (Rs 11 trillion) in the steel sector, steel minister Virbhadra Singh told reporters after taking charge of the ministry. His key priority, the minister added, would be to increase production and consumption and ensure optimal utilisation of raw material by producers.
Faced with one setback after another in expanding the scope of mining in the country, almost all the major miners of the world have wound down their operations in India.
At least three steel companies-JSW Steel, Jindal Stainless and Bhushan Steel-have decided to wait for the financial storm to pass before they take up their expansion plans. Ministry may not achieve target to cross 100 MT output by 2012.
With the reality of coalition politics staring the BJP in its face, this was inevitable, points out Ramesh Menon.
Retirement fund body EPFO recorded a net addition of 17.21 lakh members in September, according to payroll data released on Monday. Month-on-month comparison of payroll data shows an increase of 21,475 net members over August 2023, a labour ministry statement said. Year-on-year comparison of payroll data reflects an increase of 38,262 net members over September 2022.
Mega greenfield steel projects announced in the country are set to add more than 100 million ton of capacity, but land acquisition activity for only 16 million ton has begun.
The rising steel prices have adversely affected many ongoing railway projects across the country. "We have revised the price variation clause for all our future projects so that work does not suffer due to abrupt market fluctuation," said a senior railway ministry official.
Minister of state for personnel Jitendra Singh said it is a major step to place the right talent for the right role.
'We need to find out whether any structural element has got fatigue.' 'We want to increase the lifespan of the bridge.'
Policy could end land acquisition and green nod problems, and encourage foreign investors.
Closely watched by the world for any escalation, the Iran-Israel conflict is already showing early signs of stress for India Inc - longer deliveries, doubling freight rates, extended working capital cycles, and higher costs. For those yet to feel the heat, there is growing apprehension and nervousness over future developments, observed industry executives.
Steel Minister Ram Vilas Paswan on Thursday ruled out any divestment in the companies under the ministry and said the department had not received any letter from the finance ministry over the issue.
India's steel imports from China, the world's biggest producer of the alloy, doubled in April-September from a year ago though the country has enough capacity to meet its demand.
CBI has also named unknown officials of the union environment ministry in the PE.
The department of revenue in a notification on Wednesday said anti-dumping duty is being imposed for six months on the import of wire road of alloy or non-alloy steel from China.
India's recent move to remove additional 'retaliatory' duty on eight products from the United States (US), including apples and walnuts, would not have any negative impact on the domestic producers, the government clarified, even as the issue threatened to snowball into a political slugfest between the ruling and Opposition parties. The move would, in fact, result in competition in the premium market segment, ensuring better quality at better prices for consumers, especially for apples, a senior government official said. "There were certain concerns that were being raised on the mutually agreed solution that has come in, more specific to seven-eight agriculture products where we had levied additional import duties in retaliation to the steel and aluminum measures (imposed by the US)," Peeyush Kumar, additional secretary in the commerce department, told reporters in a briefing.
He is acknowledged as the person behind transforming Tata Steel into the world's 11th largest steel-maker.
The total incentive outgo under the ambitious production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme is estimated to be less than Rs. 40,000 crore by the fiscal year 2024-25 (FY25), when it completes the fourth year of implementation, according to the government's internal estimates. This means only a fourth of the allocated Rs 1.97 trillion is expected to be utilised by the end of FY24, indicating that not all the 14 PLI schemes would have taken off fully. While three of the 14 schemes - large-scale electronics manufacturing, bulk drugs, and medical devices - were introduced in 2020, the remaining were launched the following year.
100-day agenda: Commerce ministry pushes for separate logistics department
Production of eight infrastructure sectors recorded an almost flat growth rate of 6 per cent in February as against 5.9 per cent in the same month last year, according to official data released on Friday. The growth in February is lowest in the last three months. The output of core sectors had increased by 8.9 per cent in January 2023 and 7 per cent in December 2022.
The agreement, which will be reviewed at the end of five years, will boost profitability of the steel firms who had been buying expensive LNG or naphtha to meet feedstock shortage at their plants, a senior official said. The ministry of petroleum and natural gas had last week asked Reliance to sell natural gas to steel firms like Essar, Ispat and Vikarm Ispat to help the nation's most prolific gas field to produce at optimum level.
In a major development, India and the US have agreed to end six trade disputes at the WTO through mutually agreed solutions, while New Delhi will remove retaliatory customs duties on certain American products such as almonds, walnuts, and apples.
South Korea's steel makers, struggling with competition from global peers and heavy tariffs in export markets, have lodged a complaint against Japan, India and Spain for alleged dumping of stainless steel bars.\n\n\n\n
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