Business
Aluminium industry stares at critical coal shortage

Steel Industry.
The highly power-dependent aluminium industry is in for a tough time. This is because of Coal India Ltd’s (CIL) recent move to significantly reduce coal supplies and railway rakes for Captive Power Plants (CPPs), resulting in coal crunch for the Indian Aluminium Industry.
Aluminium is a metal of strategic importance and an essential commodity for diversified sectors, crucial for the nation’s economy. Aluminium smelting requires uninterrupted and high-quality power supply for production which can be met only through in-house CPPs.
Hence, such drastic curtailment of coal supplies, without any advance notice, will bring the industry to a standstill as it has been left with no time to devise any mitigation plan to continue sustainable operations. Also, resorting to imports at such a short notice is not feasible.
The aluminium industry CPPs have signed FSA (Fuel Supply Agreement) with CIL and its subsidiaries for assured long term coal supply. Any abrupt stoppage of this secured coal supply brings the industry to a grinding halt and has a severe impact on the SMEs in downstream sector resulting in increased prices of finished products and burdening end consumers.
Aluminium is a continuous process based highly power intensive industry wherein coal accounts for ~40 pr cent of aluminium production cost. Huge investments of Rs 1.2 lakh crore ($20 billion) have been made to double the domestic production capacity to 4.1 mtpa to cater to the country’s increasing aluminium demand. The Indian aluminium industry has set up ~9000 MW CPP capacity to meet its power requirement for the Smelter and refinery operations and reduce dependence on power grids.
Any power outage/or failure (2 hours or more) results in freezing of molten Aluminium in the pots which leads to shutting down of the aluminium plant for at least six months rendering heavy losses and restart expenses, and once restarted it takes almost a year to get the desired metal purity.
The Indian aluminium industry is already struggling to remain globally competitive due increasing production costs in India primarily due to increased power cost over the past few years with rising coal prices, increase in various duties, cess and RPO. Also, the high incidence of unrebated Central and state taxes and duties, constitutes ~15 per cent of aluminium production cost which is amongst the highest in the world. This is adversely impacting the sustainability and competitiveness of the Indian aluminium industry.
Being a continuous process-based power intensive industry, The Aluminium Association of India has sought the following support from Coal India to continue sustainable operations and to reduce the load on the power grid:
1) Resumption of adequate coal supply against secured linkages for sustainable industry operations.
2) Allocation of railway rakes on priority for coal dispatch to the Aluminium industry.
3) Allocation of coal dispatches through rakes in proportion of 75 per cent (power) and 25 per cent (non-power), as per the MoC circular for auction linkage, dated February 15, 2016.
4) Any decision for stopping or curtailing secured coal supplies should not be taken on an ad hoc basis. The CPP based industry should be give prior notice well in advance (2 to 3 months) to devise mitigation plans for coal or power imports
Business
SIP inflows hit all-time high of Rs 26,632 crore in April: AMFI data

Mumbai, May 9: India’s mutual fund industry saw a historic surge in systematic investment plan (SIP) contributions in April, with investors pouring in a record Rs 26,632 crore last month, according to data by the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) released on Friday.
This marks the highest-ever SIP inflow for any month, the report said.
In April, 1.36 crore SIP accounts were either closed or matured as part of this process. However, investor interest remained strong. The number of active SIP accounts grew to 8.38 crore in April, up from 8.11 crore in March, showing that people are still keen on building long-term wealth through mutual funds.
April also saw the creation of 46 lakh new SIP accounts, higher than the 40.19 lakh new accounts opened in March.
AMFI said the spike in account closures was due to a planned clean-up and is likely to reduce sharply from May onwards.
“The sustained inflows underscore improving investor sentiment, supported by strong corporate earnings, resilient macroeconomic fundamentals, and a continued tilt towards equities as the preferred asset class,” said Himanshu Srivastava, Associate Director, Manager Research, Morningstar Investment Research India.
Notably, the absence of any major new fund launches during the month indicates that investors largely allocated capital to existing schemes — a testament to their confidence in the long-term growth prospects of Indian equity markets, he added.
The record-breaking investment came even as the industry undertook a large clean-up of inactive accounts.
Despite a slight dip in inflows into equity mutual funds, the overall mutual fund industry continued to grow rapidly.
Total assets under management (AUM) reached an all-time high of Rs 70 lakh crore in April.
This is a big jump from Rs 65.74 lakh crore recorded in March — showing strong investor confidence in the market.
Large-cap mutual funds, which had faced outflows in recent months, bounced back with net inflows of Rs 2,671.46 crore in April.
This was a slight increase from Rs 2,479.31 crore in March. According to the report, this suggest that investors are regaining interest in these relatively stable funds.
Mid-cap funds attracted Rs 3,313 crore during the month, a minor drop from Rs 3,438.87 crore in March.
Meanwhile, small-cap funds continued to perform steadily, drawing Rs 3,999.95 crore in April, only slightly lower than the Rs 4,092 crore they received the month before.
Business
India, Chile make progress on comprehensive economic partnership agreement

New Delhi, May 9: India and Chile have signed the terms of reference (ToR) for a comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA), marking a significant advancement in their bilateral trade relations, the government said on Friday.
The mutually-agreed ToR were signed by Juan Angulo, Ambassador of Chile in India and Vimal Anand, Joint Secretary in Department of Commerce, who is also the Chief Negotiator for India-Chile CEPA from the Indian side.
Both sides reiterated their shared vision for strengthening bilateral relations and look forward to fruitful discussion during the first round scheduled in the national capital from May 26-30.
According to the Commerce Ministry, the CEPA aims to build upon the existing PTA (preferential trade agreement) between the two nations and seeks to encompass a broader range of sectors, including digital services, investment promotion and cooperation, MSME and critical minerals, etc. thereby enhancing economic integration and cooperation.
India and Chile are strategic partners and close allies, sharing warm and cordial relations.
Bilateral ties have steadily strengthened over the years with the exchange of high-level visits. A Framework Agreement on Economic Cooperation was signed between the two countries in January, 2005, followed by PTA in March, 2006.
Since then, economic and commercial relations between India and Chile have remained robust and continue to grow.
According to the ministry, an expanded PTA was subsequently signed in September 2016 and became effective from May 16, 2017.
In April 2019, both countries agreed to pursue a further expansion of the PTA with three rounds of negotiations between the years during 2019-2021. To deepen their economic engagement, both sides expressed their intention to negotiate a CEPA to unlock the full potential of their trade and commercial relationship, boosting employment, facilitating investment promotion, and cooperation and exports, as suggested by the Joint Study Group established under the Framework Agreement.
The JSG report was finalised and signed on April 30, 2024.
Business
Pakistan stock markets continue to bleed, down 14 pc since Pahalgam attack

New Delhi, May 8: The stock markets in Pakistan further tanked on Thursday, as trading was halted at the Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) amid rising geopolitical tensions.
Karachi Stock Exchange fell more than 6 per cent on Thursday before the trading was halted. The stock exchange has been witnessing a continuous decline since the barbaric Pahalgam terror attack.
The main index, Karachi Stock Exchange 100 Index (KSE-100), has slipped by more than 13 per cent since April 22 when the terror attack happened, killing 26 people, most of them tourists.
On April 22, the KSE-100 index was at 1,18,430, which has now dropped to 1,03,060.
Apart from this, another Pakistani stock index, KSE-30, has also fallen more than 14 per cent since April 22.
Amid the grim state of the stock markets, Pakistan has only $15 billion of foreign exchange reserves left and is on the verge of economic collapse.
The country is seeking a fresh loan worth $1.3 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to run its economy.
Pakistan’s economy, in the initial years after independence, grew at the same pace as India’s, backed by US aid and donations from the oil-rich Islamic nations.
However, while democratic India kept its focus on economic development and lifting its masses out of poverty, Pakistan has been rocked by bloody coups and military dictatorships, with the army Generals still calling the shots and fuelling hostility against its more prosperous neighbour.
Pakistan was on the brink of sovereign default in 2023 and had to be bailed out by a $3 billion IMF loan.
The country is still critically dependent on this financial lifeline and is desperately trying to raise another $1.3 billion climate resilience loan.
Overall, the neighbouring nation now faces an economic freefall – crippled by political chaos and the long-term cost of harbouring terrorism.
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