Colombo, July 31 (IANS) Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Industries has prepared a national industry policy and a five-year strategic plan for 2023-2027, a government official announced here on Wednesday.

During a press briefing at the Presidential Media Centre, Secretary to the Ministry of Industries Shantha Weerasinghe said by 2030 the policy aims to increase the manufacturing sector’s annual contribution to GDP from 16 to 20 per cent, raise the role of entrepreneurship in the workforce from 2.8 to 7 per cent, and boost the share of industrial exports in GDP from 14 to 20 per cent, Xinhua news agency reported.

These will build a globally competitive national industrial base in Sri Lanka, he added.

Weerasinghe said a bill to amend the Industrial Promotion Act has been submitted to the Attorney General’s Department for approval.

He added that the Ministry of Industries has introduced a registration system for manufacturing industries, with 3,925 industries registered by June 2024.

The government has allocated funds to a loan scheme to enhance leadership and entrepreneurship in small and medium enterprises in 2022, he said.

–IANS

int/khz

Mumbai, July 31 (IANS) Tata Steel on Wednesday reported a 75 per cent growth in its consolidated net profit to Rs 960 crore for the April-June quarter of the current financial year compared to Rs 524.8 crore in the same period of the previous year.

The company’s revenue from operations during the first quarter declined 8 per cent year-on-year to Rs 54,771 crore compared to Rs 59,490 crore in the same period last year.

Shares of Tata Steel closed 0.79 per cent higher at Rs 165.35 apiece, as compared to a 0.35 per cent advance in the benchmark BSE Sensex.

The results were announced after market hours.

Tata Group chairman N. Chandrasekaran said at Tata Steel’s annual general meeting recently that the company would continue to allocate around Rs 10,000 crore a year for capital expenditure to expand its production capacity to 40 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) by 2030,

He said Tata Steel would continue to deploy strategies for the expansion plan and use the right technologies to make progress on decarbonisation.

The company is expanding its Kalinganagar plant from 3 mtpa to 8 mtpa.

“The company plans to increase the Kalinganagar capacity by an additional 5mt under the third phase to reach 13mtpa. NINL, an acquired subsidiary and part of the Kalinganagar ecosystem, will also be expanded from the current 1 mtpa to 5.5 mtpa in the coming years,” he added.

Chandrasekaran also said Tata Steel would continue to focus on transforming its international sites, with the second blast furnace in the UK likely to shut down by September.

The plants will be replaced with electric-arc furnaces of an equivalent capacity through a 1.25 billion pounds investment in collaboration with the UK government.

He said the change in the UK government has not affected the ongoing discussions regarding Tata Steel UK.

The company’s UK plant has been making heavy losses.

–IANS

sps/pgh

New Delhi, July 31 (IANS) The Centre’s fiscal deficit declined to 8.1 per cent of the full year estimate in the first quarter of the current financial year, compared with 25.3 per cent during the same period in the previous year, data released by the Finance Ministry on Wednesday showed.

The fiscal deficit stood at Rs 1.36 lakh crore at the end of June.

The increase in tax collections and high RBI dividend to the government of Rs 2.11 lakh crore has helped to restrict the fiscal deficit.

Revenue receipts were higher at Rs 8.3 lakh crore or 26.5 per cent of the full year’s target compared with 22.4 per cent in Q1FY24.

Tax revenue was 21 per cent of the full year estimate compared with 18.6 per cent in the previous year, the figures showed.

Overall, the government has spent 20 per cent of its total expenditure of Rs 48.2 lakh crore Budgeted for the current fiscal.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Union Budget 2024-25 has fixed the fiscal deficit at 4.9 per cent of the GDP from 5.1 per cent in the last financial year.

She said that the government was sticking to the fiscal consolidation path and would bring this down further to 4.5 per cent next year.

The revenue receipt target was also raised to Rs 31.3 lakh crore in FY25 compared with Rs 30 lakh crore in the interim budget.

The capex spending was kept unchanged at Rs 11.11 lakh crore to spur growth.

–IANS

pannu/rad

Ahmedabad, July 31 (IANS) Gautam Adani, Chairman of the Adani Group, on Wednesday, said he is deeply saddened at the tragic loss of lives in the devastation caused by landslides in Kerala’s Wayanad, and announced a Rs 5 crore contribution to Kerala Chief Minister’s Distress Relief Fund.

Massive landslides occurred at Churalpara in Kerala’s Wayanad on Tuesday. The death toll due to the deadly landslides in Wayanad had touched the 200 mark and was likely to increase further.

In a post on X, Gautam Adani said he is “deeply saddened by the tragic loss of life in Wayanad”.

“My heart goes out to the affected families. The Adani Group stands in solidarity with Kerala during this difficult time,” said the Adani Group Chairman.

“We humbly extend our support with a contribution of Rs 5 crore to the Kerala Chief Minister’s Distress Relief Fund,” he added.

Around 7,000 people have been housed in around 50 relief camps in the affected area. Many were still feared trapped in the debris of the catastrophic landslides and 200 people were reported missing. The worst affected areas in the Wayanad landslides include Churalpara, Vellarimala, Mundakayil, and Pothukalu.

–IANS

na/vd

New Delhi, July 31 (IANS) Mahindra & Mahindra on Wednesday reported revenue growth of 11.2 per cent (year-on-year) at Rs 27,133 crore in the first quarter of FY25, while net profit fell 5 per cent to Rs 2,613 crore YoY.

The PAT, excluding gains on KG Mobility and MCIE sale, stood at Rs 2,120 crore, recording a growth of 23 per cent YoY, said the company.

The company’s standalone EBITDA increased by 16 per cent to Rs 4,116 crore compared to Rs 3,551 crore posted in the same period last year.

“Capitalising on leadership positions, auto and farm continued to expand market share and profit margins. With this momentum and relentless drive towards execution, we will continue to deliver scale in F25,” said Anish Shah, Managing Director and CEO, M&M.

The company posted the highest ever Q1 volumes at 212,000 on the back of improving global markets and improving product mix. It also recorded the highest quarterly tractor volume.

The Scorpio SUV maker said that it gained market share in the auto segment, while retaining its market leadership in the SUV segment with 21.6 per cent.

Further, M&M also crossed 50.9 per cent volume market share in the LCV segment. The company continues to maintain its leadership position in SUVs, LCVs, tractors, and electric three-wheelers (E3Ws).

“In LCVs, we crossed 50.9 per cent volume market share. Auto standalone PBIT grew by 39 percent with margin improvement of 180 bps YoY,” said Rajesh Jejurikar, Executive Director and CEO (Auto and Farm Sector), M&M.

M&M’s shares closed 0.45 per cent lower at Rs 2,909 apiece on Wednesday.

–IANS

na/vd