Power demand in the country dipped for the fourth straight month by 4.28% to 94.6 billion units (BU) in November, mainly because of early onset of winters and extended monsoon this year.
The health of the steel industry began weakening due to the uncertainties in global trade and the dampening of the key user industries such as construction and automotive across the globe.
In addition to global factors, the Indian steel industry has been hit by the fall in domestic consumption, dependence on export market, downward movement of prices and a rise in imports.
Going ahead, while users could benefit from lower prices, manufacturers and traders need to brace themselves for margins getting narrower due to higher raw material prices.
Housing sales are estimated to rise by mere 4% to 2.58 lakh units across seven major cities during this calendar year on subdued demand because of liquidity crunch and overall economic slowdown, according to property brokerage firm Anarock.
Chhattisgarh has emerged as the top state in terms of policy and infrastructure readiness and mission mode projects performance, a report by Coeus Age Consulting said . Chhattisgarh was followed by Maharashtra, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh in the tally of top five states, the Digital States of India 2019 report said.
Coal’s use for power in the country is set to shrink for the first time in at least 14 years as demand slows and cheaper and cleaner renewable sources of electricity erode the fossil fuel’s share.
Six of the seven coal producing subsidiaries of the world’s largest miner CIL did not devise a policy as mandated by the environment ministry, according to a CAG report.
Coal India Ltd (CIL) amended its original Corporate Environment Policy (CEP) and formulated a comprehensive Environment Policy only in March, 2012, followed by a revised policy in December 2018.