Due to liquidity problems, Vizag Steel, also known as Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL), has seen a decline in production and an increase in losses. Due to financial difficulties, the PSU steel manufacturer has also postponed paying salaries for September and October.

The company declared a loss of nearly ?2,859 crore for FY-23; however, losses increased to ?2,058 crore for the first half of FY-24 (April–September), which is nearly 70% of the figures reported for the entire year 2022–2023 years.

The amount of loss before taxes was ?3,237 crore, compared to ?2,269 crore for H1 FY-24.

Interestingly, the steel manufacturer reported net profits in two of the previous five years—at ?96.70 crore in FY-19 and ?913 crore in FY-22—according to a response submitted to the Parliament. In FY-20 and FY-21, the respective net losses were ?3,910 crore and ?1,012 crore.

The operating revenue ranged from ?28,359 crore (highest in the previous five years) in FY-22 to ?15,920.50 crore (lowest) in FY-20. Revenue for H1FY-24 came to ?11,641.32 crore.

The setback is attributed to a persistent decline in export orders, an inability to enter new markets, and fierce competition from lower-priced products arriving from China and Vietnam. According to data accessed by businessline from the Union Steel Ministry, India suffered a significant setback when it became a net importer of steel for the eight months of the fiscal year, April through November. This was due to a persistent decline in export orders brought on by pressures from the global recession, an inability to enter new markets, and fierce competition from lower-priced offerings arriving from China and Vietnam. 

During the eight-month period, imports totaled 4.3 million tonnes (mt), which was 0.3 mt more than exports, which totaled 4.0 mt. 

The second-largest producer of crude steel in India, which turned into a net exporter—regarded as a significant accomplishment—now reverses course and becomes a net importer, signalling a significant shift in the country's competitive environment.
According to Ministry data, there was a notable 30% annual decline in exports in November, which has since been offset by a 30% increase in imports. The amount of imports increased from 0.6 mt in the same period last year to 0.78 mt in November 2023. Conversely, exports decreased to 0.23 mt from 0.39 mt during the same period last year. 

Exports decreased by a significant 20% sequentially, while imports increased by 37%. 

According to government data, there was a significant decline in foreign direct investment (FDI) into India from the Cayman Islands and Cyprus between April and September of this fiscal year, with a 24% decline in overall inflows.

According to government data, there was a significant decline in foreign direct investment (FDI) into India from the Cayman Islands and Cyprus between April and September of this fiscal year, with a 24% decline in overall inflows.
The data indicated that foreign direct investment (FDI) from the Cayman Islands decreased by 75% to USD 145 million from USD 582 million during the same period in the previous fiscal year.
In a similar vein, inflows from Cyprus decreased by more than 95% to USD 35 million over the course of the six-month period, compared to USD 764 million from April to September of 2022–2023.
Experts have linked heightened application scrutiny to the dramatic decline in foreign direct investment (FDI) from the Cayman Islands and Cyprus.

During the first half of 2023–24, FDI inflows from other tax havens like Singapore and the UAE, as well as the Cayman Islands and Cyprus, have also lost their lustre, according to Anjali Malhotra, Partner–Regulatory, Nangia Andersen India.

In addition, Malhotra noted that the recent decline in investment from tax havens is consistent with a general decline in FDI during the first half of 2023–2024. "...the recent decline in investment from Cayman Islands and Cyprus may be attributed to enhanced scrutiny of these investments," Malhotra said.
According to her, higher interest rates as a result of the US and other western countries' high inflation, which is made worse by the geopolitical conditions in East and West Asia, may be the cause of the overall decline.
It is noteworthy that the total outflow of foreign direct investment (FDI) from Cyprus to the global economy has been falling at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 62%, according to Sanjay Kumar, a partner at Deloitte India.
According to Kumar, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) took the Cayman Islands off of its "grey list" in October of this year. This could lead to a rise in foreign direct investment (FDI) coming into the Cayman Islands in the future.

Delhi, New: Due in part to a decline in module prices, rooftop solar installations in India increased 34.7% year over year to 431 MW from July to September 2023, according to Mercom India. According to a report by the research firm, during the three months of 2022, the rooftop solar installations amounted to 320 megawatt (MW).

Additionally, 1.3 gigawatt (GW) more rooftop solar capacity was added in the first nine months of 2023 than in January–September 2022 (1.2 GW).
The 'Q3 2023 Mercom India Rooftop Solar Report' stated that as of September 30, 2023, India's total rooftop solar capacity stood at 10.1 gigawatts (GW).

There appears to be a growing trend of rooftop installations. A tipping point in module prices has been reached, leading to more procurement activity and appealing returns on rooftop solar investments. We anticipate two very successful quarters', Mercom Capital Group CEO Raj Prabhu stated.

The residential and commercial and industrial (C&I) market segments accounted for the majority of installations.

The average cost of a rooftop solar system decreased by 13.4% year over year (YoY) and by roughly 5% quarter over quarter during the quarter.

Gujarat maintained its lead in rooftop solar installations, accounting for 26.7% of all installations. Maharashtra and Rajasthan came in second and third, respectively, at 13.5% and 8.3%.

As of September 2023, the top 10 states accounted for about 77% of all rooftop solar installations.

According to a study by the Indian Biogas Association (IBA), the country can reduce LNG imports worth $1.17 billion annually by blending biogas at a rate of 5% with natural gas supplies.
The study is being conducted in light of the government's recent mandate, known as the compressed biogas blending obligation (CBO) scheme, which requires 1% of the nation's piped natural gas (PNG) supplies to be blended with biogas starting on April 1, 2025.
According to a study by the Indian Biogas Association (IBA), the country can reduce LNG imports worth $1.17 billion annually by blending biogas at a rate of 5% with natural gas supplies.
The study is being conducted in light of the government's recent mandate, known as the compressed biogas blending obligation (CBO) scheme, which requires 1% of the nation's piped natural gas (PNG) supplies to be blended with biogas starting on April 1, 2025.
According to IBA estimates, blending 5 percent of biogas with natural gas can cut $1.17 billion worth of LNG imports. Additionally, this can reduce CO2 emissions per person by 2% when compared to the 2019 data, which showed that each person in India emitted 1.9 metric tonnes of CO2.
Furthermore, the organisation claims that there are countless advantages to keeping organic waste out of landfills.
According to government estimates, the CBO scheme will facilitate the establishment of at least 750 compressed biogas (CBG) projects by 202829 and encourage investment of approximately Rs 37,500 crore.
India will benefit from increased energy security as a result, as it presently depends largely on natural gas imports to meet its energy needs.
It is extremely beneficial to blend biogas with PNG and CBG to help lessen this reliance.
Similar to ethanol, biogas blending has the potential to show a positive correlation with the growth of agricultural income.
Almost 1,000 acres of adjacent biogas plant area can be turned into organic agriculture with each new large-scale plant.
Numerous organic waste sources, including food waste, municipal solid waste, and agricultural waste, can be converted into biogas.
For farmers, waste management firms, and other biogas production stakeholders, this may open up new business opportunities.

CEO and co-founder of Accel-backed Credgenics, a Saas-based platform for debt collection and resolution, Rishabh Goel, told FE in an interview that the company is expected to turn a profit by the end of this fiscal year.

We were able to report a profit of about Rs 50–60 lakh in the first year of business, but we had to make significant investments in R&D, technology, HR, and products. We should reach net profitability by the end of the year after breaking even on a monthly basis earlier in the year, according to Goel.
By relying on the use of its debt resolution solutions, which include digital collections, litigation management, a mobile app for field collections, and more, the company also intends to more than double its topline in FY24, from over Rs 100 crore in FY23 to Rs 200–250 crore.
More than a hundred financial institutions, including ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, IDFC First Bank, Mahindra Finance, IIFL Finance, and DMI Finance, are among Credgenics' clients in India and Indonesia. Currently, the company is in charge of 60 million retail loan accounts, with a $5 billion monthly loan book value.
Banks and NBFCs collectively make up about 80% of its clientele, with fintechs accounting for the remaining 20%. "I think there are some areas like Chennai and Jaipur where there is a huge penetration of NBFCs, but we are not there yet in many of them," Goel stated in reference to the penetration rate.
In the later quarters of this fiscal year, when retail lending activity is higher due to holiday spending, Credgenics anticipates a strong uptake of its debt resolution offerings.
"I believe that compared to the last two quarters, when the demand for credit from both consumers and MSME's has increased, the pace of lending has slowed down in the first two quarters. This harvesting season is when a lot of agri-based financing occurs, he said.

Billionaire Gautam Adani's net worth increased by $5.6 billion last week as a result of his companies' stock rising after the Supreme Court heard a case pertaining to the Hindenburg report, according to a Bloomberg report.

The billionaire Adani Group was accused by a US-based short seller of widespread corporate malfeasance in a report published on January 24th, which caused the business tycoons' wealth to decline early in the year.

On a number of petitions, however, the top court postponed making a decision last month in order to look into claims of fraud against the Adani conglomerate. In its decision, the supreme court stated that it would not accept damning media reports about the corporation as the "gospel truth." The final decision is anticipated.
 

Following the Court's ruling, the industrialist, whose net worth is $65.8 billion, is ranked 20th on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Furthermore, the market value of Adani Group stocks increased by roughly $9.8 billion on Monday. As market participants celebrated Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party's victory in three state elections, the stock market saw a surge that contributed to the Nifty 50 and Sensex reaching all-time highs.

Dell Inc. is finding that new technology certifications and standards being developed in India are creating new business opportunities. At a media roundtable on technology trend projections for the upcoming year, John Roese, the company's global chief technology officer, and Peter Marrs, the president for Asia-Pacific and Japan of the American hardware and services company, shared their thoughts.
According to them, the global enterprise technology adoption in the upcoming year will be shaped by the growing acceptance of zero trust in cybersecurity, useful applications of generative artificial intelligence (AI), the rise of multi-cloud edge platforms, and the advancement of quantum computing in conjunction with generative AI.
"Countries such as Malaysia, Vietnam, Australia, New Zealand, and India are developing their cyber standards and certification programmes. We are thrilled about this chance, and we'll assist those clients with our technology," Marrs continued.
Aside from the Digital Personal Data Privacy Act, which was notified in August, and the social media intermediary guidelines that were announced last year, India is developing standards, certifications, and regulations related to technology, including cybersecurity laws.

Ashwini Vaishnaw, the union minister of information technology (IT), stated in November that new rules pertaining to AI deepfakes are also being drafted. The "next government," according to union minister of state for IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar, will pick up the task of drafting the Digital India Act, which is anticipated to add to the existing body of legislation pertaining to technology. This is because the law requires further consultations.
As more businesses look to technology service providers like Dell for compliance support, the wave of regulations could result in an increase in enterprise technology use cases. According to Roese, another important theme will apply to all applications of AI, not just those involving generative AI.

India's GDP increased at a cumulative annual growth rate of 7% between 2005 and 2019, but the country's emissions increased at a rate of only 4% annually, resulting in a 33% decrease in GDP emission intensity.

In 2005 and 2019, India cut its GDP emission intensity by 33%, meeting the target 11 years ahead of schedule, according to a government report.

The report also stated that India's GDP increased at a cumulative annual growth rate of 7% during this time, but the country's emissions increased by only 4% annually, indicating that the nation has been successful in separating its economic expansion from greenhouse gas emissions that warm the planet.

During the current climate talks in Dubai, the report known as "The Third National Communication to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change" will be presented to the UN climate change body, according to officials.

A nation's greenhouse gas emissions, susceptibility to climate change, and the steps it is taking to reduce emissions and prepare for its effects are all included in national communications.

The prices of Indian steel companies are falling, which could negatively impact their profit margins by the end of FY24's fourth quarter. This is because the price of coking coal has increased by more than 20% over a period of time, while the price of steel has decreased by about 3%. According to Prabhudas Lilladher, steel companies must raise steel prices in order to prevent margin pressure. There are currently eight stocks in the brokerage's steel universe that it suggests purchasing or building up.
Despite the recent strengthening of global steel prices, Indian benchmark HRC prices (ex-Mumbai) stayed unchanged WoW at Rs 55,000/t, according to the most recent report by Prabhudas Lilladher. From Rs 20,715/t WoW, the domestic steel spot spread decreased to Rs 20,217/t. The price of Chinese HRC rose 2% WoW to USD 575/t.

The brokerage noted that domestic premiums have vanished over the past month on an import parity basis as Chinese prices have risen from USD 520/t while Indian prices have decreased 3% MoM. Spot spreads in China increased 7% week over week to USD 92/t. Additionally, spot spreads were unchanged at USD 147/t WoW while West European HRC prices rose to USD 630/t from USD 625/t WoW.

Iron ore fines (62% CNF Rizhao) prices stayed unchanged WoW at USD 133/t, while coking coal (FOB Australia) prices rose 2% WoW to USD 322/t. Consequently, the brokerage stated, "We believe steel companies under our coverage universe to witness margin compression in 4QFY24 unless they take price hikes; as coking coal prices have moved up sharp 21% QoQ while steel prices declined 3% over the same period." Additionally, it stated, "As festive season and state elections are getting over, we expect domestic demand to resume and companies would be able to take price hikes gradually in tandem with rising global steel prices."

According to Sterlite Power, it has secured a transmission project that will help Rajasthan, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh evacuate 8 GW of renewable energy.

Delhi, New: On Thursday, Sterlite Power announced that it had won a transmission project that will help Rajasthan, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh evacuate 8 GW of renewable energy. According to a company statement, the company has obtained the order for the Rajasthan REZ Ph-IV (Part-1-Bikaner Complex): Part-B Transmission project.

"Today, transmission is the key to India's successful energy transition. Pratik Agarwal, Managing Director of Sterlite Power, stated, "We are pleased to have secured this important project, which will enable approximately 8000 MW of renewable energy to travel from RE (renewable energy) rich Bikaner to load centres in Rajasthan, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh.

Sterlite Power has successfully secured its third Green Energy Corridor (GEC) project in Rajasthan with this order win.

For a duration of 35 years, Sterlite Power will construct this project under the BOOT (Build, Own, Operate, Transfer) model. The tariff-based competitive bidding (TBCB) process was used to solicit bids for the project.
With 32 projects completed, sold, or in the process of being built, Sterlite Power is a private sector developer and solutions provider for power transmission infrastructure. Its portfolio includes roughly 15,350 circuit km of transmission lines spread across Brazil and India.

Kanpur Municipal Corporation and Tata Power EV Charging Solutions have partnered to install 12 EV charging stations throughout Kanpur. New Delhi: Kanpur Municipal Corporation and Tata Power subsidiary Tata Power EV Charging Solutions have teamed up to install 12 electric vehicle charging stations in six key Kanpur locations. "Tata Power EV Charging Solutions Ltd (TPEVCSL), a Tata Power Group Company, signed a Memorandum of Association with the Kanpur Municipal Corporation to install 12 EV charging stations across six strategic locations in Kanpur," the statement read. The announcement claims that this partnership marks the start of a ground-breaking project to completely transform Kanpur's EV infrastructure. The zonal offices in Krishna Nagar's Zones 2 and 5, Sen Para Police Chauki between Apna Ghar Ashram and Road, Moti Jheel Parking / Kargil Park, the area around Medical College at Gol Chouraha, and the Children's Park near OEF at Vijay Nagar Chauraha are just a few of the strategically placed locations for these charging stations throughout the city. Twelve charging stations will be spread throughout the city, with two charging guns at each of these locations. EV owners can use the Tata Power EZ Charge smartphone app to find these locations.

In the coming months, HPCL intends to begin operations at the 5 million tonne per year Chhara LNG import terminal in Gujarat. It has already received offers to hire capacity from six to seven parties.

New Delhi: According to a senior company official on Thursday, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (HPCL) intends to begin operations at the 5 million tonne per year Chhara LNG import terminal in Gujarat in the coming months and has already received offers from 6-7 parties to hire capacity.

The terminal was mechanically finished in March, but commissioning took longer than expected because a 40-kilometer pipeline that connected it to an existing network intended for consumer sales was still under construction.

"The LNG terminal will be put into service within the next few months," Amit Garg, Director of Marketing at HPCL, informed reporters in this location.

The oil refining and fuel marketing company HPCL entered the petrol market somewhat late. It constructed the facility in Chhara, Gujarat's Gir-Somnath district, to receive natural gas in cryogenic ships that have been supercooled to a liquid state. The liquid gas will be converted back into a gaseous state at the terminal before being piped to various industries for use as feedstock.

According to Garg, the business has received offers from six to seven parties to hire the import capacity at Chhara. "We are in discussions and a decision will be taken soon."

New Delhi: According to REC Limited's regulatory filing to the stock exchanges on Thursday, the Board of Directors has approved a proposal to increase borrowing to Rs 1.5 lakh crore from Rs 1.2 lakh crore for 2023–2024.

The regulatory filing stated that the REC Board of Directors revised its market borrowing programme from Rs 1,20,000 crore to Rs 1,50,000 crore for 2023–2024 during a meeting on Thursday. The revision included interchangeability among various instruments, such as bonds/debentures, term loans, external commercial borrowing, commercial papers, etc. on a private/public placement basis.

It further stated that, in accordance with the authority granted in this regard by the Board of Directors, funds under the aforementioned revised market borrowing programme will be raised periodically during the fiscal year 2023–2024 with the consent of appropriate authorities.

According to Union Minister of Steel Jyortiraditya Scindia, the government intends to launch the second iteration of the PLI scheme for speciality steel in order to increase the nation's output of value-added steel.

According to Union Minister of Steel Jyortiraditya Scindia, the government intends to launch the second iteration of the PLI scheme for speciality steel in order to increase the nation's output of value-added steel on Friday.

Speaking at the national capital's PLI Scheme for Specialty Steel Memorandum of Understanding signing ceremony was the minister. The companies that were chosen to invest under the Rs 6,322-crore scheme were present.

"This day is significant for the steel industry's past, present, and future. PLI 1.0 marks the start of the journey rather than its conclusion. "Our ministry has already begun to examine PLI 2.0," he said, referring to the initial PLI for specialty steel.
The minister also requested input and suggestions from industry participants so that the next PLI Scheme for speciality steel could be developed as soon as possible.

A total of 27 steel companies signed 57 memorandum of agreements (MoUs) with the Ministry of Steel during the event in order to produce electrical steel, specialty rails, alloy steel products, coated/plated steel products and high strength/wear-resistant steel.

As a result, the domestic steel industry will receive an additional investment of Rs 30,000 crore, increasing capacity by 25 million tonnes annually and generating 55,000 new job opportunities.

According to Faggan Singh Kulaste, Minister of State (MoS) for Steel, the programme has drawn a lot of interest and will change the steel industry "game."