India’s competitors watchdog has discovered market leaders Tata Metal, JSW Metal, state-run SAIL and 25 different companies breached antitrust regulation by colluding on metal promoting costs, a confidential doc exhibits, placing the businesses and their executives vulnerable to hefty fines.
The Competitors Fee of India (CCI) has additionally held 56 high executives, together with JSW’s billionaire Managing Director Sajjan Jindal, Tata Metal CEO T.V. Narendran and 4 former SAIL chairpersons, accountable for worth collusion over various durations of time between 2015 and 2023, based on a CCI order dated October 6, which has not been made public and is being reported for the primary time.
JSW declined to remark, whereas Tata Metal, SAIL, and the executives didn’t reply to Reuters queries. The CCI additionally didn’t reply to requests for remark.
The CCI investigation – probably the most high-profile case involving the metal business – began in 2021 after a bunch of builders alleged in a prison case delivered to a state courtroom that 9 corporations had been collectively proscribing the provision of metal and growing costs.
Reuters reported in 2022 the watchdog raided some small metal corporations as a part of an investigation into the business.
The probe was later expanded to as many as 31 corporations and business teams, in addition to dozens of executives, the CCI’s October order, reviewed by Reuters, exhibits. Beneath CCI guidelines, particulars of circumstances associated to cartel-like exercise will not be made public earlier than they’ve concluded.
The CCI investigation has “discovered the conduct of the events to be in contravention” of Indian antitrust regulation and “sure people have additionally been held liable,” the order acknowledged.
The findings are a essential stage of any antitrust case.
They are going to be reviewed by high CCI officers and corporations and executives may also have the chance to submit any objections or feedback in a course of that’s prone to take a number of months given the dimensions of the investigation.
The CCI will then subject its closing order, which will probably be launched publicly.
Danger of great fines
India is the world’s second-largest producer of crude metal, and demand for the alloy has been rising as infrastructure spending has elevated within the fast-growing main financial system.
JSW Metal has 17.5% of the Indian market, Tata Metal 13.3% and SAIL 10%, based on knowledge from commodities consultancy BigMint.
Within the final fiscal yr to March 2025, JSW Metal reported standalone revenues of $14.2 billion, whereas Tata Metal’s had been $14.7 billion.
The CCI is empowered to impose penalties on metal corporations of as much as thrice their revenue or 10% of turnover, whichever is greater, for every year of wrongdoing. Particular person executives may also be fined.
JSW and SAIL have denied the allegations earlier than the CCI, based on two individuals accustomed to the matter, who declined to be named as a result of the case was confidential.
Certainly one of them stated JSW had additionally submitted its response to the CCI, and denied the allegations.
At 0852 GMT, shares in JSW Metal prolonged losses to 1.33%, SAIL was down 3.2%, and Tata Metal turned damaging and fell as a lot as 0.7%. The primary Nifty Metallic Index additionally turned damaging in Mumbai commerce.
Whatsapp chats reviewed
The CCI opened the case after Coimbatore Company Contractors Welfare Affiliation alleged in a case it introduced earlier than a Tamil Nadu state courtroom in 2021 that metal corporations had hiked costs by 55% throughout a six-month interval to March 11 that yr, and had been artificially boosting costs by proscribing provide to builders and shoppers.
After the general public prosecutor stated the problem was an antitrust matter, the decide then ordered the CCI to take “applicable motion” on the criticism of the affiliation, whose members are concerned in street and freeway building.
Different corporations within the CCI doc that had been discovered to have allegedly colluded on costs, had been Shyam Metal Industries, state-run Rashtriya Ispat Nigam and different smaller-sized companies. Shyam and Rashtriya didn’t reply to Reuters queries.
The CCI has requested the metal corporations to submit their audited monetary statements for the eight monetary years to 2023, the October order confirmed. The watchdog sometimes seeks such particulars to calculate potential penalties.
Whereas the October order didn’t element the proof analysed, an inner CCI doc from July 2025 stated officers had uncovered WhatsApp messages exchanged between regional business teams of metal product makers that steered wrongdoing.
The messages “point out that they’re concerned in fixing the costs/chopping down manufacturing,” stated the July doc.
Disclaimer: This story has been revealed from a wire company feed with out modifications to the textual content. Solely the headline has been modified.
