Latest news with #JSW
Zawya
3 days ago
- Automotive
- Zawya
India's EV makers Tata, Mahindra seek to block hybrids in govt fleets, documents show
India's biggest automakers are seeking to block a pollution management body's attempts to promote hybrid vehicles in government fleets in and around New Delhi, saying it will disrupt adoption of cleaner battery electric cars and hit investments, documents show. Companies, including Mahindra & Mahindra and Tata Motors, are lobbying the ministry of heavy industries to overturn an attempt to equate hybrids with EVs and ensure incentives for all government programmes are restricted to electric models, five company letters seen by Reuters show. In a May 2 advisory, the Commission for Air Quality Management, tasked with fixing severe air pollution levels in India's capital region, categorised strong hybrids as "cleaner vehicles" recommending their use in government fleets, a move that caught carmakers by surprise. Given the "ultra-high density" of vehicular traffic in New Delhi and nearby areas, there is a need to move away from "polluting vehicles, dependent purely on fossil fuels like diesel and petrol", the commission said. Automakers, however, argue that hybrids - which use a battery and combustion engine - are reliant on fossil fuels whereas EVs produce zero tailpipe emissions, making them an effective solution for the urban air pollution crisis. "Our plea is for government policy and incentives to stay firmly focused only on EVs," Mahindra said in its May 15 letter to the heavy industries ministry. Along with Tata and Mahindra, JSW MG Motor, Hyundai Motor and Kia Corp have also written to the ministry in support of electric cars, rekindling their face-off with hybrid proponents like Toyota Motor and Maruti Suzuki. Tata, Mahindra, JSW MG Motor, Hyundai , Kia Corp and the ministry of heavy industries did not respond to requests for comment. POLICY UNCERTAINTY The potential opportunity is huge - of the 847,544 vehicles in use by government agencies across India in 2022, only 5,384 were EVs - less than 1%, official data showed. A major concern for EV makers is that support for hybrids dilutes the Indian government's own policy which incentivises only EVs in its production-linked schemes and other programmes. It will also create confusion among car buyers, companies and investors, hurting EV sales at a time when their growth is already slowing due to inadequate charging infrastructure and high upfront vehicle costs. "The lack of a consistent and predictable policy environment may deter long-term investors ... particularly in high-capex, technology-intensive sectors like EV," said Tata, which has raised $1 billion from private equity firm TPG for its EV push. Tata in its May 15 letter said, the commission's move will undermine current and proposed EV investments, impact India's global image as an investor friendly destination and send mixed signals to international stakeholders. Carmakers in India are expected to invest over $10 billion through 2030 to manufacture lithium-ion cells, EVs and batteries, ratings agency Moody's said in a report, adding EV adoption rates in India are still low versus China, Europe and the U.S. Mahindra's EV unit counts Singapore's Temasek and British International Investment among investors while Hyundai plans to invest over $500 million in EVs in India. (Reporting by Aditi Shah; editing by David Evans)
New Indian Express
4 days ago
- Business
- New Indian Express
Construction of Kadapa Steel Plant will begin in 10 days, assures CM Naidu
KADAPA: Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu announced that the construction of the much-anticipated steel plant in Kadapa will commence within the next 10 days. Naidu made this announcement after being re-elected as the National President of the Telugu Desam Party on the second day of the ongoing Mahanadu conclave on Wednesday. The declaration, made by the party's election committee chairman Varla Ramaiah, drew loud cheers from party leaders and workers. After assuming charge, Naidu addressed the party workers and revealed that the Rs 4,500 crore, three-Million Tonnes Per Annum (MTPA) steel project, set to be developed by industrialist Sajjan Jindal's JSW Steel, is expected to generate over 3,000 jobs and serve as a cornerstone for industrial growth in the region. 'This project alone will provide employment to more than 3,000 people,' Naidu told a cheering crowd. 'It marks the beginning of a new industrial era for Rayalaseema.' Highlighting his government's commitment to balanced development, the Chief Minister said, 'Our policy is clear—decentralization of development. We are committed to developing every region of the state equally. Large-scale industries must be established in Rayalaseema to ensure balanced growth.' The Kadapa steel plant had earlier faced multiple delays. However, a recent high-level meeting between CM Naidu and JSW Chairman Sajjan Jindal at the Chief Minister's residence in Delhi helped revive the stalled project, paving the way for swift execution. Naidu also unveiled a bold blueprint for statewide water connectivity, with the Banakacherla project taking centre stage. Calling it a transformative initiative, Naidu declared, 'Once the Polavaram–Banakacherla linkage is completed, the state will see immense benefits.'
Time of India
6 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Indian steel tycoon's pathway to $74 million Mozambique coal deal reopens
India's largest steelmaker can proceed with the acquisition of a coal deposit in Mozambique after the seller recovered the concession rights from the country's new government. JSW Steel Ltd .'s $74 million deal to buy Minas de Revuboe — announced a year ago — ran into trouble when the administration of then-President Filipe Jacinto Nyusi revoked the local company's mining lease. MdR responded by initiating legal and arbitration proceedings to regain the license. The concession was restored to MdR – owned by the estate of Ken Talbot, an Australian mining tycoon who died 14 years ago – last week, according to Mozambique's database of natural resources permits. President Daniel Chapo's cabinet had already reversed the cancellation of MdR's mining contract with the government on April 15. 'We are pleased with the outcome and express our gratitude to the government for its leading role in facilitating this,' a spokesperson for the Talbot estate said. 'We are now focused on preparing the project for development and progressing the sale to JSW Steel .' A spokesperson for JSW – which is headed by the billionaire Sajjan Jindal – declined to comment. JSW extended its deadline for closing the deal by five months in late January, two weeks after Chapo replaced Nyusi as head of state in the southern African nation. The company is expanding its network of mining assets, both in India and overseas, to produce more of the iron ore and coking coal it requires to manufacture steel. The firm said in a February presentation that it was still working to acquire the pre-development stage project from MdR, which would give it access to as much as 280 million tons of premium coking coal. A spokesperson for Mozambique's Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy didn't answer a call, nor respond to questions about why the concession was returned to MdR. Last August, two months after the license was withdrawn from MdR, Nyusi's government published a notice in a state-owned newspaper offering a 30-day window for any objections to the concession area being granted to a new company called Stonecoal SA. Four of Stonecoal's five directors were employed at Jindal Steel & Power Ltd. , another Indian steelmaker led by Naveen Jindal, Sajjan's younger brother. One of Stonecoal's directors told Bloomberg in December that they intended to develop the project in their personal capacities. Naveen also chairs a private business called Vulcan International that owns Mozambique's largest coal mine at Moatize, which lies adjacent to MdR's license. Representatives of Stonecoal and JSPL didn't respond to requests for comment. Both JSW and JSPL are part of the late OP Jindal's Mumbai-based empire, which was divided among his four sons and is overseen by his widow Savitri, India's richest woman. The brothers occasionally have small cross-holdings in each others' companies, but they are run separately and even occasionally compete against each other.
Hindustan Times
6 days ago
- Business
- Hindustan Times
Supreme Court orders status quo on Bhushan Steel liquidation
The Supreme Court on Monday stopped liquidation proceedings of Bhushan Power and Steel Ltd , weeks after it scrapped JSW Steel's deal to acquire the company. The court's order came after JSW Steel and other creditors told the court that they plan to file a review petition against the May 2 order, which rejected JSW's acquisition of Bhushan Power & Steel and ordered that the company be liquidated. That order created a flutter in corporate and banking circles as it came six years after JSW's deal was approved. The acquisition under India's Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, introduced in 2016, was often held up as an example of constructive resolution. The liquidation was to happen before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) and a bench of justices BV Nagarathna and Satish Chandra Sharma said it was not expressing any opinion on the merits of the case at the present stage, but that 'it would be in the interest of justice if status quo is maintained on the proceedings pending in NCLT.' The bench also recorded the assurance of senior advocate Neeraj Kishan Kaul, who appeared for JSW, that a review petition would be filed before the expiry of the limitation period. 'We also record the submission of the senior counsel for the appellant that the review petition shall be filed prior to the expiry of the limitation period and in accordance with the law,' the bench said. Shares of JSW closed 2.13% higher at ₹1,030 apiece on a day the benchmark BSE Sensex index rose 0.56%. Arguing for a stay of the earlier order, Kaul submitted that NCLT was rushing to appoint a liquidator even though the window for filing a review petition had not closed. 'If a liquidator is appointed, we will be in great difficulty. It is a profit-making company and this resolution plan was given four years ago,' he said. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Committee of Creditors (CoC), did not oppose the plea for deferring the liquidation and suggested the matter be taken up on June 10 . 'I am not opposing. NCLT will have to hear the matter. The question is on which date. Kindly ask them to take up this matter on June 10. Everybody's interests is taken care of.' When the bench noted that review petitions are not typically listed during the summer break, Mehta pointed out the large financial implications pertaining to the case. 'This was a resolution plan implemented five years back. We have taken the money. Now, to reverse everything... they have taken money from other banks. Some of them are foreign banks. It will be difficult for them to deal with foreign banks. So some way will have to be found ,' Mehta told the Court. The apex court is closed for the summer between May 26 and July 13, during which a vacation bench will sit to hear emergency matters. The counsel appearing for Bhushan Steel's former promoter argued that JSW's appeal against NCLT's order was not maintainable. On May 2, the Supreme Court had rejected JSW Steel's ₹19,700 crore acquisition of BPSL, calling it illegal and in breach of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC). The Court had noted at the time that the resolution professional and the CoC should never have approved the plan and ordered the liquidation of Bhushan Power. The insolvency proceedings began in 2017. In 2019, several steel companies, including Tata Steel and JSW came up with resolution plans offering to acquire the BPSL. JSW Steel emerged victorious in the bidding race and in September 2019, NCLT had approved its resolution plan.
Time of India
7 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Supreme Court stays liquidation of Bhushan Power & Steel
NEW DELHI: Supreme Court on Monday stayed the liquidation process for Bhushan Power & Steel (BPSL) before NCLT and ordered to maintain status quo after JSW Steel , whose resolution plan was rejected by SC, told the court that it was filing a review petition against the order. As JSW's limitation period for filing a review against the SC judgment is not yet over, a bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and Satish Sharma said the status quo was needed to avoid future complications as the liquidation of the company might jeopardise the review petition, which is yet to be filed by JSW. For JSW, senior advocate Neeraj Kishan Kaul said the NCLT was rushing in the case even before the company's review plea is decided, and if liquidation is allowed, then it would be irreversible. He said JSW has time till June 2 to file the review. "If a liquidator is appointed, we will be in great difficulty. It is a profit-making company and this resolution plan was given four years ago," he said. Stay informed with the latest business news, updates on bank holidays and public holidays . AI Masterclass for Students. Upskill Young Ones Today!– Join Now
