Cautioning against profiteering by steel makers, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday said he has sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s attention towards 55% hike in steel prices by players during the past six months, making projects unviable.

The road transport, highways and MSME minister also said if the players failed to curb the practice, the government will have to change policies and encourage alternative technologies in projects.

Addressing the Assocham Foundation Week on ‘national infrastructure pipeline critical for economic revival across sectors’, Gadkari also said a GPS system for tolling is on the anvil in which toll payments will be deducted automatically on the distance traversed.

Indian Oil launched the country's first 100-octane rated fuel in the country earlier this month. The premium fuel is branded XP100 and offers the highest octane rating of any premium-grade fuel in the country. Standard BSVI-compliant petrol is rated at 91 octane. The new fuel is aimed at owners of high-end performance cars and bikes. Indian Oil XP100 will be rolled out across 15 cities in India.

In the first phase that began with the launch on December 1 at select outlets, the fuel has been made available in Delhi, Gurgaon, Noida, Agra, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Mumbai, Pune and Ahmedabad.  This will be followed by an expansion to Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Bhubaneswar. These cities have bee chosen based on aspirational demographics and availability of high-end vehicles. The 100-octane rating brings with it faster acceleration, better engine performance, improved drivability, enhanced fuel economy and engine life.

Over the past several weeks the auto industry has been speaking about high manufacturing cost on account of high steel prices and precious metals. The auto industry has now raised the issue with various ministries seeking an intervention.

Vinnie Mehta, DG of Automotive Component Manufacturers Association (ACMA), said that auto industry is coming out of a deep recession and passing on costs to consumers has its limitations.

“The auto industry, like many other industries, is coming out of a deep recession. We were under a downturn in the year 2019-20 and 2021 is what you all know. So increase in prices is a big concern on the raw material side because I am not too sure how can cost efficiencies make good for it. Passing on to consumer definitely has a detrimental impact on the market. So, this is definitely of concern to the whole industry,” he said in an interview to CNBC-TV18.

Ola on Monday announced that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the state government in Tamil Nadu to establish what would be the world's largest scooter factory with an annual capacity of two million units. To be built at a cost of ₹2,400 crore, the factory will help create around 10,000 jobs. 

With a view to cater to local as well as global demand, Ola says the factory will not only help create jobs but will improve the level of technical expertise in India while focusing on local manufacturing, especially in the field of electric mobility. Units manufactured here will also be shipped to European, Asian and Latin American markets and Ola expects the plant to become a major hub for the manufacturing of EVs.

Rs 20,000 crore subordinate debt scheme for stressed MSMEs, which was announced in May by the Modi government and operationalized in August, has started to identify eligible loan accounts for disbursement. So far, 8,502 stressed or non-performing asset (NPA) MSME accounts have been identified by the State Bank of India, and the disbursement process is already in progress, the Ministry of Finance said on Sunday sharing the progress of various schemes under the Atmanirbhar Bharat packages. The scheme was finalised on June 24, 2020, as part of the Rs 3.7-lakh-crore MSME package under the Rs 20-lakh-crore stimulus for the Atmanirbhar Bharat campaign.

The scheme targeted to benefit 2 lakh operational MSMEs, which are stressed and have turned NPA as of April 30, 2020. Such MSMEs are eligible to secure credit equivalent to 15 per cent of their stake (equity plus debt) in the business or Rs 75 lakh whichever is lower. Entrepreneurs or promoters would have to infuse the credit in the business as equity to improve liquidity and maintain the debt-equity ratio, according to the MSME Ministry. While 90 per cent of the guarantee support for the credit will be under the scheme, the remaining 10 per cent would be contributed by MSMEs. The scheme provides a 7-year moratorium for businesses to pay the principal amount. The maximum repayment period would be 10 years.