Neha Arora

India's finished steel imports from China, South Korea and Japan hit a record high in the first 10 months of the financial year, according to provisional government data seen by Reuters on Tuesday.

India is exploring mining of critical minerals in Zambia, Congo and Australia, Mines Secretary V.L. Kantha Rao said on Thursday, as the world's fastest-growing major economy aims to secure raw materials such as lithium.

India could extend restrictions on low-ash metallurgical or met coke imports to encourage local steel mills to source the steelmaking ingredient from domestic suppliers, two sources said.

India's smaller steelmakers could be forced out of business by a further surge in imports resulting from sharp tariff increases imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump, industry executives warned on Monday.

India's aluminium shipments to the U.S., its top export market for the metal, will likely drop due to tariffs proposed by Washington, prompting producers to look at other markets such as Europe, industry executives and a government source said on Monday.

Japan has called on India to exempt it from any temporary tax aimed at curbing rising steel imports, according to a source and documents, arguing the move would crimp supplies of high-grade, speciality alloys that New Delhi needs.

India has scrapped customs duty on waste and scrap of a dozen critical minerals, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said during her annual budget presentation on Saturday.

India has been emerging as a bright spot for the cut and polished diamonds amidst a slowdown in key markets such as the U.S. and China, Amit Pratihari, managing director, De Beers India told Reuters on Wednesday.

Hindustan Zinc , India's biggest producer of the refined metal, will report strong revenue and profit growth in the fourth quarter and the upcoming fiscal year, supported by higher production and rising metal prices, CEO Arun Misra said.

India's state-run miner NMDC is expected to extract 6,500 carats of diamonds, worth $3.4 million, this fiscal year from ores in a mine near a tiger reserve, after receiving mining clearances last year, two sources said.

India's steel ministry has asked for 150 billion rupees ($1.74 billion) from the budget to offer mills incentives to produce low-carbon steel, two government sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

India's finished steel imports hit at least a six-year high in the first nine months of the financial year that started in April 2024, according to provisional government data reviewed by Reuters on Monday.

India's finished steel imports from China reached an all-time high during the first eight months of the fiscal year to March 2025, provisional government data showed, adding to concerns among domestic mills about cheap shipments from China.

South Korea's LG Energy Solution is in talks with India's JSW Energy to manufacture batteries for electric vehicles and renewable energy storage in a joint venture that would need an investment of over $1.5 billion, two sources told Reuters.

India will reach a decision soon on whether to impose import restrictions on metallurgical coke, a key ingredient in steelmaking, a source with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

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.