Steel firms urge Centre to roll back coal hike

The five major hot-rolled coil producers have asked the government to roll back the increase in coal prices saying the hike would adversely affect the industry, already reeling from higher input costs and pressure on margins.

Moosa Raza, President, Indian Steel Alliance said in a statement that the hike in prices by Coal India Ltd from today would put further pressure on the production cost of the steel industry, which was already faced with high cost and tight supplies of raw materials.

He said higher coal prices would also lead to an increase in the cost of power, resulting in a cascading effect on production cost. "We hope that the government would roll back this increase and restore status quo," said Raza.