The Union Budget 2016 will give a great boost to the ailing steel industry, as the Finance Minister has made a substantial allocation of ₹1.8 lakh crores in the plan outlay for rail/road projects, according to Visakhapatnam steel plant (Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd) Chairman and Managing Director P Madhusudan.
He said the RINL was producing long products used in construction activity and it would suit the company well. However, he said, the doubling of clean energy cess on coal from ₹200 per tonne to ₹400 tonne would have considerable impact on the cost of production, as coal is one of the major raw material in the process of steel-making. He said the phasing out of exemptions on scientific R&D would also have adverse impact as the steel industry depends on R&D heavily. On the whole, he said, it was a good Budget with a rural-orientation.
Source: The Hindu