Jindal Stainless Hisar Ltd (JSHL) on Monday posted an over three-fold jump in its consolidated net profit to Rs 270 crore for the December 2020 quarter.
The company had posted a net profit of Rs 82 crore in the corresponding quarter of last fiscal, JSHL said in a BSE filing.
Its total income during October-December 2020 increased to Rs 3,172 crore, against Rs 2,512 crore in the year-ago period.
JSHL’s expenses were at Rs 2,897 crore as against Rs 2,408 crore a year ago.
In a statement, the company said that during the third quarter, strong demand was registered in the auto, pipe and tube, metro rail, and railway wagon segments.
A quick normalisation in supply chain post the peak-COVID-19 period, uptick in demand from rural and urban centres, and renewed efforts by the industry helped in reviving the stainless steel demand in a short span.
In the statement, JSHL Managing Director Abhyuday Jindal said, "JSHL’s performance is a result of our strong focus on streamlining operational capabilities, consistent process improvement, and addition of value-added products in our mix.”
On the proposals made in the Budget 2020-21 for the steel sector, he said the domestic stainless steel industry will be adversely impacted by the recent announcements.
In her Budget Speech 2021 last week, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced slashing of import duties on a number of steel items, besides revoking the anti-dumping duty and countervailing duty (CVD) on certain steel products.
Jindal said suspension and revocation of duties will grant smooth access to Chinese and Indonesian-subsidised stainless steel products into the Indian market.
"This will not only be detrimental for the organised players, but the MSME (micro, small and medium enterprise) sector, which caters to 35 per cent of the total stainless steel demand, would be forced to shut."
"We urge the government to review this decision soon as it is against the essence of the Atmanirbhar Bharat mission,” he said.
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