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Aluminium industry stares at critical coal shortage

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Steel Industry

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

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Vijay Mallya Files Petition In Karnataka High Court Seeking Loan Recovery Accounts

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Bengaluru: Fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya has filed a petition in the Karnataka High Court seeking loan recovery accounts from banks. Senior advocate Sajan Poovayya appeared on behalf of Mallya.

About The Petition

According to Mallya’s counsel Rs 6,200 crore was to be repaid, but Rs 14,000 crore has been recovered. Mallya’s counsel claimed that this was informed to the Lok Sabha by the Finance Minister.

Mallya’s counsel has argued that the loan recovery officer stated that Rs 10,200 crore has been recovered. He claimed that even though the full loan amount has been cleared, the process is still ongoing. Therefore, a request has been made to direct the banks to provide a statement of the recovered loan amount.

Based on Mallya’s petition a notice was issued to banks and loan recovery officers by the High Court bench led by Justice R Devadas.

Mallya is currently living in London and he is the subject of extradition efforts from the Government of India for alleged loan defaults.

Earlier on December 18, 2024, Vijay Mallya had claimed that banks have recovered Rs 14,131.60 crore from him “against the judgement debt of Rs 6203 crore” but he continues to be “an economic offender”.

He said in a post on X that unless the Enforcement Directorate and banks can legally justify how they have taken more than two times the debt, he is entitled to relief.

Tweet Of Vijay Mallya

“The Debt Recovery Tribunal adjudged the KFA (Kingfisher Airlines) debt at Rs 6203 crores including Rs 1200 crores of interest. The FM announced in Parliament that through the ED, Banks have recovered Rs 14,131.60 crores from me against the judgement debt of Rs 6203 crores and I am still an economic offender. Unless the ED and Banks can legally justify how they have taken more than two times the debt, I am entitled to relief which I will pursue,” Mallya said.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had listed several major cases where the Enforcement Directorate has from time to time attached properties of individuals and companies connected to economic offence cases.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman On The Debate On Supplementary Demands For Grants

Replying to the debate on Supplementary Demands for Grants – First Batch for 2024-2025, she apprised the Lok Sabha Tuesday evening that the central enforcement agency has successfully restored properties worth around Rs 22,280 crore — only the major cases included.Of those restored, the complete attached property worth Rs 14,131.6 crores of fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya has been restored to the public sector banks, the minister said.

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Sensex closes lower as smallcaps shine; investors eye RBI MPC meet, Delhi poll results

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Mumbai, Feb 5: The Indian stock market on Wednesday closed lower after a volatile trading session as investors remained cautious amid global uncertainties.

All eyes are now on the RBI monetary policy committee (MPC) meeting on February 7, which could announce a rate cut for the first time in the last five years, as well as the Delhi Assembly election results to be out on February 8.

The BSE Sensex declined by 312.53 points, or 0.40 per cent, to settle at 78,271.28 after fluctuating between an intra-day high of 78,735.41 and a low of 78,226.26.

The NSE Nifty ended 42.95 points lower at 23,696.30 after touching a high of 23,807.30 and a low of 23,680.45 during the day.

Several stocks provided support to the market, with Adani Ports, IndusInd Bank, Tata Motors, Tata Steel, HDFC Bank, and ICICI Bank emerging as the top gainers. Their share prices increased between 0.4 per cent to 1.6 per cent during the session.

However, selling pressure was seen in Asian Paints, Nestle India, Titan Company, ITC, HUL, and L&T, with Asian Paints leading the decline with a 4 per cent drop.

The broader market performed better compared to the benchmark indices. The Nifty MidCap index rose by 1.13 per cent, while the Nifty SmallCap index saw a stronger gain of 1.99 per cent.

Most sectoral indices on the NSE ended in positive territory, except for Nifty FMCG, Realty, Auto, and Consumer Durable indices, which declined by up to 1.85 per cent.

On the other hand, buying interest was seen in PSU Bank, Metal, OMCs, and Media stocks, with these indices rising over 1 per cent each.

According to Aditya Gaggar of Progressive Shares, the markets opened strong but faced resistance around 23,800 levels and reversed.

Without a strong momentum, the Index moved between positive and negative before ending at 23,696.30 with a loss of 42.95 points. The Media and Energy sectors performed well, while the Realty and FMCG sectors saw a drop of more than 1.5 per cent, he mentioned.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is likely to cut the repo rate by 25 basis points, aligning with the budget’s objectives of stimulating economic activity while managing a prudent fiscal position.

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Indian stock market trades flat, all eyes on RBI MPC meet

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Mumbai, Feb 5 : The domestic benchmark indices traded almost flat early on Wednesday, after the stock market experienced a strong upward movement as the US trade tariff tensions eased.

After a positive opening, the Sensex and the Nifty were almost flat. At around 9.31 am, Sensex was trading at around 78,595.81, up marginally, while the Nifty was at 23,769.80, up almost 30 points or 0.13 per cent.

HDFC Bank, Infosys, Oil and Natural Gas Corp, Tata Consultancy Services and Bharat Petroleum Corp added to the Nifty 50 index.

On the other hand, Asian Paints, Larsen and Toubro, Titan and Nestle India weighed on the Nifty 50 index.

On NSE, nine sectors advanced, three declined out of 12. The NSE Nifty FMC declined the most, and the NSE Nifty Oil & Gas rose the most. The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices were trading higher in early trade.

According to market watchers, after a positive opening, Nifty can find support at 23,600. On the higher side, 23,800 can be an immediate resistance, followed by 23,900 and 24,000.

After remaining net sellers for the 23 sessions, the foreign institutional investors (FIIs) turned net buyers on February 4, as they bought equities worth Rs 809 crore. On the contrary, 35 domestic institutional investors (DIIs) turned net sellers after remaining net buyers for the last 35 sessions, as they sold equities worth Rs 430 crore.

The strong buying interest helped the Nifty index close above the 23,700 mark. Additionally, global markets traded positively.

According to Sameet Chavan of Angel One, the US decision to pause tariffs triggered a strong recovery from lower levels in U.S. futures overnight, setting a positive tone for Asian markets.

“While the momentum remains positive, key overhead resistance levels need to be monitored at 23900 (89 DEMA), 24000 (200 DSMA), and 24250 (previous swing high),” he mentioned.

After a robust Union Budget, all eyes are on the RBI’s monetary policy committee (MPC) meeting on February 7 where a rate cut is expected.

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