Mittal, CIL in talks

Calcutta, July 13: In the backdrop of the company showing interest in striking a joint venture with Coal India Ltd (CIL) for extraction of coal from abandoned mines, representatives of global steel major ArcelorMittal met CIL chairman Partha Sarathi Bhattacharya at the CIL headquarters here.

Price curbs

New Delhi, July 13: Finance minister P. Chidambaram said the government could not continue to reduce taxes on various items to contain inflation but there was a need for moderating the demand of affluent sections to curb rising prices.

Tata mine

Mumbai, July 13: Scouting for iron ore reserves to feed Anglo-Dutch steel maker Corus, Tata Steel is looking at acquiring an iron ore mine in western Australia. “Tata Steel has expressed interest to invest in western Australia’s iron ore sector,” Eric Ripper, deputy premier, treasurer and minister of state development of the government of western Australia said.

Tyre trouble

New Delhi, July 13: The tyre industry may come under the scanner of the Competition Commission of India (CCI) as a study commissioned by it has hinted at price fixing arrangements within the industry. “There seem to be some anti-competitive practices happening in the tyre industry. There could be cartels,” CCI director-general Amitabh Kumar said.

CII recipe

New Delhi, July 13: Industry body CII has asked the government to remove hurdles in investments, improve access to capital, fast-track fiscal reforms and boost infrastructure building in the wake of slowing industrial production as indicated by the index of industrial production figures for May.

Excise duty

New Delhi, July 13: The finance ministry is likely to come out with a plan in a couple of months to gather information on the evasion of excise duty through sources such as electricity bills and value-added tax payments.

DGCA tussle

Mumbai, July 13: Technocrats in the directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA) have criticised the appointment of a non-technocrat as the director-general of the DGCA in a petition submitted to civil aviation minister Praful Patel.