India Steel Price Collusion Probe

India's India — Election Commission of India (CCI) has found market leaders Tata Steel, Steel, state-run Steel Authority of India Limited, and 25 other firms, along with 56 top executives including Steel's Sajjan Jindal and Tata Steel's T.V. Narendran, breached antitrust law by colluding on steel selling prices. The alleged collusion occurred over varying periods between 2015 and 2023. The investigation, initiated in 2021 after a complaint from the Coimbatore Corporation Contractors Welfare Association, uncovered evidence such as WhatsApp messages suggesting price-fixing and production cuts. The findings are a critical stage in the antitrust case, with companies and executives now having the opportunity to submit objections before the CCI issues its final public order. The CCI is empowered to impose penalties of up to three times a company's profit or 10% of turnover for each year of wrongdoing, with individual executives also facing fines. Steel and Steel Authority of India Limited have denied the allegations. The news has already led to a decline in the shares of the implicated companies and the Nifty Metal index.