Indian Economy : News,Discussions & Updates

Falcon said:
The report card still reads: can do better

Significant gap with China yet
Click to expand...
For that, the world including India needs to see to it that China can't get away with dumping their steel goods or any other product related to steel given the huge subsidies it has and the excess capacities in built with in China . That is definitely one reason why our production capacity hasn't improved as offtake is affected. That is also why China is desperately pitching for BRI with India apart from other countries across the globe. I won't be surprised if, in order to boost their GDP nos they're pumping in monies for grandiose projects with little utilitarian values back home, now that Hambantota is seen for what it is - a genuine albatross around the neck of host countries paying thru their nose for unproductive projects.

You ought to follow Saurav Jha on twitter. He makes a very good case for why we need to be extremely vary of Chinese money, technology and products coming into India.
 
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Revised GDP Data Paints A Bright Picture For The Indian Economy

For 2017-18, the first revised estimate for GDP growth now stands at 7.2 percent, compared to the 6.7 percent estimated earlier. Gross Value Added, a preferred measure of economic activity, has been revised to 6.9 percent for 2017-18, compared to 6.5 percent as per the provisional estimates.

For 2016-17, the year demonetisation was announced, GDP growth has been revised higher to 8.2 percent, compared to the earlier estimate of 7.1 percent. This is the second revised estimate for this year.

For 2015-16, GDP growth has seen a moderate revision to 8 percent in the third revised estimate, from 8.2 percent earlier.

The revisions mean that the average growth over the Narendra Modi-led government’s tenure, starting from 2013-14 to 2018-19, now stands at 7.4 percent compared to 7.16 percent as per the provisional estimates for 2017-18 and the first revised estimates for 2016-17.
 
India's 2018 coal imports grew at fastest pace in four years
India's thermal coal imports for 2018 rose at the fastest pace in four years, according to two industry sources, despite moves by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government to cut imports to reduce the country's trade deficit.

Coal is among the top five commodities imported by India, one of the world's largest consumers of coal, and the rise in imports fuel after two consecutive years of decline adds to its trade deficit.

The trade gap has hurt the valuation of the rupee, the worst-performing major Asian currency last year but is a boost to international miners, including Australia's Whitehaven Coal.

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The Greens want to prevent any investment in new coal projects. Phil Hearne

Thermal coal imports jumped 19 percent to 171.85 million tonnes last year, the highest since 2014, according to data from American Fuels & Natural Resources, a Dubai-based trader of United States-origin coal. Thermal coal is mainly used to produce electricity.

Imports of coking coal, mainly used in steel manufacture, rose the fastest since 2015, according to consultancy firm Wood Mackenzie and American Fuels & Natural Resources.

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India imported 52.26 million tonnes of coking coal last year, up 14 percent from 45.93 million tonnes in 2017, the data showed.

The value of all coal 2018 imports was 28.7 per cent higher at 1.72 trillion Indian rupees ($33.7 billion) than a year earlier, according to India's coal and trade ministries.

Traders say coal imports rose largely because of restrictions on consumption of petroleum coke, a dirtier alternative, in some parts of the country.

"2018 was a booming year for coal imports in India, mostly on the back of demand from cement and small- and medium-scale industries in India," said Puneet Gupta, founder of online coal and petroleum coke marketplace Coalshastra. Petcoke consumption dropped about 15 per cent last year, according to government data.

Boost for international miners
Higher coal imports are a boon for international miners such as Australia's Whitehaven Coal, Indonesia's Adaro Energy and US's Peabody Energy Corp, and global commodity merchants such as Glencore.

In 2017, Australian miners exported 48 million tonnes of high-quality steelmaking coal to Indian mills.

Last year Indonesia supplied more than 61 per cent of India's thermal coal imports. South Africa accounted for 22 per cent and the US more than 7 per cent. Imports of US thermal coal, which burns better compared with Indonesian coal, almost doubled to 12.46 million tonnes last year, according to American Fuels.

However, cheaper coal from countries such as Indonesia was likely to be preferred this year because of lower freight costs, according to Ali Yasrab, director of Iman Resources, a United Arab Emirates-based trader of US-origin coal. "If coal prices reach 2018 peak levels, US coal will become popular in India again," he said.

The Adani Group, which handles about a third of India's coal imports, said last year it expected a "reasonable rise in imports" until fiscal year 2021, due to "rail transportation challenges" affecting India's domestic coal industry.

Analysts say they expect India will be a key market for miners this year as China's "war on pollution" will lessen demand.
India's 2018 coal imports grew at fastest pace in four years: sources
 
India's crude steel output declines 4 per cent to 8.99 million tonnes in January
India's crude steel production fell by 3.84 per cent to 8.995 million tonnes (MT) in January 2019, according to the Joint Plant Committee (JPC). The fall is reported after the World Steel Association (worldsteel) recently announced that India has replaced Japan as the world's second-largest steel producing country. On January 25, worldsteel in its report noted that India's crude steel production in 2018 was at 106.5 MT, while as Japan produced 104.3 MT in 2018.

"Crude steel production stood at 8.995 MT in January 2019, down by 3.8 per cent over January 2018, and was down by 0.2 over December 2018," the JPC said in its latest report. The country had produced 9.355 MT crude steel during the same month a year ago, it said.

In January, state-run Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) and Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL) together with private players JSW Steel, Tata Steel, Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) and Essar Steel produced 5.486 MT of the crude metal. The rest came in from other producers, the report said.

In January 2019, the production of hot metal stood at 6.194 MT, 3.3 per cent higher compared to 5.999 MT in the same month last year. The country's pig iron production fell by 3 per cent to 0.526 MT in January this year, as against 0.542 MT in the same period the previous year.

India has set a target of producing 300 MT crude steel by 2030 with an investment of Rs 10 lakh crore. A national steel policy has already been approved by the by the Cabinet. Under the Ministry of Steel, JPC is the only institution in India that collects and maintains data on domestic iron and steel sector.
India's crude steel output declines 4 per cent to 8.99 million tonnes in January | Business News
 
India becomes world's 2nd largest LPG consumer after govt's Ujjwala push
The government's push to provide clean cooking fuel to every household has turned India into the world's second largest LPG consumer whose demand is projected to rise 34 percent by 2025, Oil Secretary M M Kutty said on February 5.

Speaking at the Asia LPG Summit, he said active LPG consumers have grown at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15 percent - from 14.8 crore in 2014-15 to 22.4 crore in 2017-18.

"Rapid increase in population combined with LPG penetration in rural areas has resulted in an average growth of 8.4 percent in LPG consumption, making India the second largest consumer of LPG in the world at 22.5 million tonnes.

"As per (oil) ministry's projections and forecasts, LPG consumption is expected to grow to 30.3 million tonnes by 2025 and 40.6 million tonnes by 2040," he said.

The government, he said, has taken a number of initiatives to promote usage of LPG across the country especially in rural households which otherwise depend on traditional fuels that are hazardous to health and polluting in nature.

Under Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) of providing free cooking gas (LPG) connection to poor, over 6.31 crore connections have been provided since the launch of the scheme on May 1, 2016.

"Before March 31, 2020, we will provide LPG connections to 8 crore households under PMUY," he said, adding that "LPG connection is issued in the name of the women member of the household."

Speaking at the summit, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana was launched in May 2016 with the objective of providing free LPG connections to 5 crore women belonging to poor households over a period of three years.

"With the successful implementation of this programme, this scheme has been revised to target 8 crore LPG connections by the financial year 2020. With the revised targets, the scheme now covers all the vulnerable and disadvantaged sections of the society having no LPG connections," he said.

He said the coverage of LPG in the country has now reached close to 90 percent, rising from about 55 percent in 2014. "We are confident to meet our target of 8 crore connections in the pursuit of tackling health and environmental problems and driving social change through women empowerment."

LPG is supposed to replace traditional cooking fuels in rural kitchens such as firewood and cow dung which not only contribute to environmental degradation but also have serious health implications on users.

"With estimated imports of above 12 million metric tonnes in the financial year 2018-19, India stands as world's second largest importer of LPG, after China. The country's LPG imports have registered remarkable trend in the last five years, growing at a healthy CAGR of 12.5 percent, surpassing import volumes of Japan in the financial year 2017," he said.

Also, the government has started transferring the LPG subsidy directly into bank accounts of the beneficiaries, thereby eliminating duplication and fake users. "So far, more than Rs 96,625 crore has been transferred into the bank accounts of consumers," he said.

Under the Direct Benefit Transfer, rather than supplying LPG cylinders at subsidised rates, the government now supplies cylinders at market prices and transfers the subsidy amount into bank accounts.

"This has helped to cut subsidy leakages by curbing diversion of subsidised LPG and ensuring that the actual intended beneficiaries receive the benefits of subsidies. Through this scheme, the government has generated savings of about Rs 50,000 crore," he said.
India becomes world's 2nd largest LPG consumer after govt's Ujjwala push
 
India offers 23 oil blocks in OALP-III bid round
India on February 10 offered 23 oil and gas and coal-bed methane blocks for bidding in the third round of Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP) as it looks to more than double the area under exploration to raise domestic output and cut imports.

Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan launched the OALP-III bid round at the Petrotech 2019 conference on the outskirts of Delhi.

"In OALP-III, 23 blocks in 12 sedimentary basins are being offered. Of these, five are coal-bed methane (CBM) blocks. Total area on offer is about 31,000 square kilometers," he said.

Last date for bidding is April 10.

OALP-III will run concurrently with OALP-II, where 14 blocks covering an area of close to 30,000 sq km is on offer for bidding, he said, adding in OALP-I, 55 blocks covering an area of 60,000 sq km were awarded in October last year.

"In one year, we have added about 1.2 lakh sq km of area to exploration kitty. This compares to 90,000 sq km area under exploration previously," he said, adding the area under exploration will double by the time the round ends.

"Our effort is to accelerate exploration of all sedimentary basins of the country," he said.

In the first round of OALP last year, as much as Rs 60,000 crore was committed in the exploration of oil and gas in 55 blocks or areas.

The 14 blocks being offered in OALP-II bid rounds cover an area of 29,333 square kilometers and bids close on March 12.

Since the BJP-led NDA came to power in 2014, the government has held two auctions of discovered small fields and a similar number under OALP and the cumulative investment committed is Rs 1,20,000 crore, officials said.

The first OALP bid round got an investment commitment of Rs 60,000 crore. In OALP-II, another Rs 40,000 crore is expected, he said.

India had in July 2017 allowed companies to carve out blocks of their choice with a view to bringing about 2.8 million sq km of unexplored area in the country under exploration.

Under OALP, companies are allowed to put in expression of interest (EoI) for prospecting of oil and gas in an area that is presently not under any production or exploration licence. EoIs can be put in at any time of the year but they are accumulated twice annually.

The blocks or areas that receive EoIs at the end of a cycle are put up for auction with the originator or the firm that originally selected the area getting a 5-mark advantage.

The two windows for accumulating EoIs end on May 15 and November 15 every year. EoIs accumulated till May 15 are supposed to be put on auction by June 30 and those in the second window by December 31.

The first OALP round was launched in 2017 and bids came in by May 2018. EoIs for the second round closed on May 15, 2018 and the blocks were supposed to be put for auction by June but the round was delayed.

In the meanwhile, EoIs in the third window also closed on November 15, 2018 with as many as 18 blocks and five CBM blocks, measuring 31,722 sq km, being sought.

"About 90,000 sq km of India's sedimentary basin was under exploration prior to these bid rounds. In two OALP rounds and two discovered small field (DSF) rounds, the area under exploration has more than doubled," Pradhan said.

Pradhan said increased exploration will lead to more oil and gas production, helping the world's third largest oil importer to cut import dependence.
India offers 23 oil blocks in OALP-III bid round
 
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