Neha Arora

India is weighing imposition of a "safeguard duty", or a temporary tax, on steel, the steel minister, H.D. Kumaraswamy, said on Thursday, as it attempts to rein in a flood of cheap imports from China.

India's plans to ramp up coal-powered steelmaking capacity could impede the country's goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2070, Global Energy Monitor (GEM) said in a report on Tuesday.

India will no longer need to rely on refined copper imports once billionaire Gautam Adani's new copper smelter ramps up its capacity, the federal Ministry of Mines said on Friday.

India's finished steel imports from China reached an all-time high during the first seven months of the current financial year from April, according to provisional government data reviewed by Reuters, rattling hundreds of small Indian steel producers.

India's construction boom with its gleaming highrises and multilane highways was supposed to drive up domestic steel sales, but Jogindra Group's mills in northern Punjab state are filled with unsold inventory.

India will auction its first tranche of offshore minerals, which is worth more than 1.5 trillion rupees ($17.8 billion), a government source directly involved in the decision making told Reuters on Thursday.

India is in talks with Mongolia to set up a preliminary pact that will focus on mineral shipments between the two Asian nations, an Indian government source with direct knowledge of the developments said on Thursday.

India's goals for boosting steel production capacity will be adversely impacted by low prices stemming from dumping in the international market, the federal Ministry of Steel said on Wednesday.

India's JSW Steel and state-run Steel Authority of India (SAIL) are in talks with Mongolian authorities to import two shipments of coking coal, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter said.

India's finished steel imports during April-October surged to a seven-year high at 5.7 million metric tons, according to provisional government data reviewed by Reuters on Wednesday.

India's imports of steel over the period from April to September were led by shipments from China, according to provisional government data reviewed by Reuters on Friday, and the South Asian nation remained a net importer of the alloy.

India's JSW Steel and South Korea's POSCO plan to invest 650 billion rupees ($7.73 billion) in their proposed plant in India in the coming years, sources said, part of efforts to capitalise on rising steel demand in the world's fastest-growing major economy.

India's JSW Steel said on Tuesday it has signed a preliminary agreement with South Korea's steel major POSCO to set up an integrated steel plant with an initial capacity of 5 million metric tons a year.

India's steel ministry favours a temporary tax to curb rising steel imports, a senior official with direct knowledge of the matter said, as it seeks to protect steelmakers reeling from a surge in cheaper Chinese imports.

India should double the customs duty on steel to check imports as the country faces dumping of steel and predatory pricing, ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India's CEO Dilip Oommen said on Tuesday.

India's iron ore production rose by 7.4% to 116 million metric tonnes in April through August this year, compared with 108 million metric tonnes during the same period last year, the government said on Saturday.

India's leading steelmakers' group warned on Friday of a further increase in imports from China following a U.S. decision to impose 25% tariffs on Chinese steel imports.

India's steelmakers have called on the government to double tariffs on steel imports to curb a surge in cheaper steel shipments from China, according to a letter from an industry association seen by Reuters.

India's finished steel imports from China hit a seven-year high during the first five months of the 2024/25 financial year, provisional government data reviewed by Reuters showed.

State-run Coal India is scouting for critical minerals in Argentina and is in talks with officials in Chile for lithium, India's federal mines secretary V. L. Kantha Rao said on Wednesday.