8JULY, 2025INDIA RULES OUT STEEL PRICE HIKE CITING AMPLE DOMESTIC CAPACITYINDIA SUGAR INDUSTRY DRIVES ENERGY SECURITY AND RURAL DEVELOPMENTThe Ministry of Steel stated on Wednesday that India's manufacturing capacity is sufficient to satisfy the rising domestic demand and that there is no chance of a price increase in response to the June 13 decision.'Apprehension of the possibility of price rise due to the 13th June order issued by the Ministry of Steel are unfounded. India has a steel manufacturing capacity of 200 million tonnes (MT) which is enough to meet domestic demand. Hence no such possibility of price increase seems to be there,' the ministry said in a statement.Following an order issued on June 13, 2025, requiring steel importers to adhere to intermediate goods stipulated by BIS, the statement was released. Due to infrastructure expansions and rollouts spearheaded by the public and private sectors, steel consumption has increased by more than 12% over the past three years. According to estimates, the nation would require roughly 300 MT of steel capacity by 2030 and 400 MT by 2035 in order to meet the rising demand for steel.The capacity creation, according to the statement, will require a capital infusion of nearly $200 billion by 2035. "If substandard cheap steel imports affect the domestic steel industry (both integrated steel producers and small steel industries) their capacity to infuse this capital will come into terrible strain and the capacity expansion plans of steel industry will be adversely affected."The import of completed steel products that were inferior to those made by Indian steel product manufacturers is the basis for the requirement to achieve parity with domestic producers. It claims that Indian enterprises only employ intermediate materials that comply with the BIS standard, whereas importers did not feel this need when importing steel goods. Union Food Minister Pralhad Joshi stated on Thursday that India's sugar business, which has grown to be worth Rs 1.3 lakh crore, is the main driver of energy security and rural development. The minister was speaking at the "National Efficiency Award Ceremony" and the "Cooperative Sugar Industry Conclave 2025.""Under the PM Shri @narendramodi ji's leadership, India's sugar sector has grown into a Rs 1.3 lakh crore industry (annually), driving rural prosperity, energy security and green power through reforms like record ethanol blending and Atmanirbharta in fuel," Joshi said on a social media post.He went on to say that it is encouraging to observe how the sector's development is forming India's sustainable, independent future. The National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories Limited organized the event. It was founded in 1960 with the goal of creating a robust and dynamic cooperative sugar industry in India. Its members include all state cooperative sugar federations and cooperative sugar factories nationwide. A top official claims that thanks to favorable policy moves, India's ethanol production capacity has increased more than fourfold in the last 11 years of the Modi administration, reaching 1,810 crore litres per year.The percentage of ethanol blended with gasoline has increased from 1.53 percent in 2013 to almost 19 percent now due to increased installed production capacity. This has benefited sugarcane and foodgrain producers and resulted in significant foreign exchange savings of over Rs 1.10 lakh billion. TOP STORIES8JULY, 2025
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