According to the notice the decision was taken at a recent Coal India functional directors’ meet for non-power consumers holding valid supply agreements with coal companies. View More

KOLKATA: Coal consumers, other than those in the power sector, who did not buy their full quota in the quarter to June, can lift the remaining quantity if it is available provided they promise not to import similar quantities during the year, Coal India’s subsidiary Western Coalfields said in a notice. The Indian Captive Power Producers Association slammed the notice and said it was “strange”. According to the notice the decision was taken at a recent Coal India functional directors’ meet for non-power consumers holding valid supply agreements with coal companies. “Under this arrangement, the monthly contracted quantities that could not be availed by the fuel-supply agreement (FSA) consumers in previous months due to lockdown or other difficulties, could be availed by the consumers during the subsequent months but within the year 2020-21, subject to availability of coal at the contracted sources,” Coal India said in response to ET’s query. “The objective is to deter consumers from imports due to non-accessibility of domestic coal." However, Rajiv Agrawal, secretary general of the Indian Captive Power Producers Association, said: “Consumers opting to revive the lapsed quantity will have to buy Coal India’s coal in subsequent months even if imports turn out to be cheaper. It would be strange that consumers will not be allowed to import even if Coal India is not able to supply this quantity – since the circular says the quantity will be made available subject to availability at coal companies.” According to Coal India several non-power plants are importing coal from different countries for blending purposes or direct use. A need has arisen for consumption of domestic coal instead of imported coal to save foreign exchange as sufficient domestic coal is available with Coal India, the company said in a recent circular. Coal India’s stocks are at an all-time high of 75 million tonnes while stocks at power plants have touched 44 million tonnes. Coal India is in talks with sponge iron, cement and captive power plants for offering fuel on import substitution basis. The state-run miner along with the coal ministry has decided to bring down imports for the purpose of blending to zero this year. The plan is to tie up with consumers for substituting long-term import requirements through memorandums of understandings.

As part of the initiative, Prakash Kumar Singh, former Chairman and Managing director of Steel Authority of India Limited, has joined Vedanta’s Electrosteel Steels Limited (ESL) as President – Growth Project. It also said Jitendra Kumar Dadoo who retired as a Secretary to Government of India in December, 2017 has been appointed as a Senior Advisor. View More

KOLKATA: Diversified natural resources major, Vedanta on Monday announced the appointment of two senior professionals to its advisory board in step with its aim to drive the next phase of growth in the post Covid period. As part of the initiative, Prakash Kumar Singh, former Chairman and Managing director of Steel Authority of India Limited, has joined Vedanta’s Electrosteel Steels Limited (ESL) as President – Growth Project, an official statement said. It also said Jitendra Kumar Dadoo who retired as a Secretary to Government of India in December, 2017 has been appointed as a Senior Advisor. Singh, a metallurgical engineer from IIT, Roorkee, will be an integral part of ESL’s management committee and will play a key role in driving marketing, policy and growth. Speaking on his appointment, Singh said: “Vedanta ESL has been a great turnaround story over such a short period of time. The company is in an exciting phase of growth and I look forward to partnering in this journey.” Dadoo, an Economics graduate from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi and MBA from IIM Ahmedabad, is a 1983 batch IAS officer. He has served in several key positions, including Chairman, Delhi Civil Supplies Corporation, Additional Secretary and Joint Secretary, Department of Commerce, Government of India. He will work closely with the Corporate Strategy team and Hindustan Zinc’s management committee to drive key business initiatives. On his appointment, Dadoo said: “I am excited about joining Vedanta at a time when it is focused on building a self-reliant India.” Commenting on the two appointments, Vedanta CEO Sunil Duggal said,: “We are delighted to have Mr Singh and Mr Dadoo join our illustrious advisory board. We look forward to an enriching engagement with them to leverage their vast experience and expertise.”

Over the past year, three U.S. antibiotics startups with promising drugs have gone bankrupt, and many of the remaining companies are quickly running out of cash. View More

By Andrew Jacobs Twenty of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies on Thursday announced the creation of a $1 billion fund to buoy financially strapped biotech startups that are developing new antibiotics to treat the mounting number of drug-resistant infections responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths each year. The fund — created in partnership with the World Health Organization and financed by drug behemoths that include Roche, Merck and Johnson & Johnson — will offer a short-term but desperately needed lifeline for some of the three dozen small antibiotics companies, many of them based in the United States, that have been struggling to draw investment amid a collapsing antibiotics industry. Over the past year, three U.S. antibiotics startups with promising drugs have gone bankrupt, and many of the remaining companies are quickly running out of cash. The new AMR Action Fund will make investments in roughly two dozen companies that have already identified a promising drug with the goal of bringing two to four novel antibiotics to the market within a decade, according to the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations, an industry trade group that is administering the fund. Recipients will be chosen by an advisory panel made up of drug company executives, scientists and other experts in the field. The companies will also provide free expertise to biotech companies with promising drugs as they navigate the clinical and regulatory hurdles needed to bring an antimicrobial compound from laboratory to market. “Antibiotics are the mortar that holds the entire health care system together,” said David Ricks, chief executive of Eli Lilly, who helped spearhead the effort. “We make drugs for diabetes, cancer and immunological conditions, but you couldn’t treat any of them without effective antibiotics.” In an interview, Ricks said he was well aware of the irony that Eli Lilly and many of the other companies contributing to the fund were once the giants of antibiotics development but have long since abandoned the field because of their inability to earn money on the drugs. “We know firsthand how broken the system is,” he said. The crisis stems from the peculiar economics and biochemical quirks of drugs that kill bacteria and fungi. The more often antimicrobial drugs are used, the more likely they are to lose their efficacy as pathogens survive and mutate. Efforts to promote antibiotics stewardship means that new drugs are used as a last resort, limiting the ability of companies to earn back the billions of dollars it can take to create a new product. “It’s been a really tough time for companies doing antibiotic discovery despite the tremendous unmet need,” said Zachary Zimmerman, chief executive of Forge Therapeutics, a San Diego company that has several new drugs in the pipeline. He said the fund would provide critical help for companies that have already spent millions identifying an innovative compound but lack the money to carry out the costly clinical trials needed to gain regulatory approval. “A fund like this can really help us get through that valley of death,” Zimmerman said. The collapse of the antibiotics market has dramatically reduced the number of promising drugs. Between 1980 and 2009, the Food and Drug Administration approved 61 new antibiotics for systemic use; over the past decade that number has shrunk to 15, and one-third of the companies behind those medicines have since gone belly up. Those backing the fund acknowledge that the effort is largely a stopgap measure. Industry executives and public health experts say that fixing the broken marketplace for antibiotics would require sweeping government intervention to create financial incentives for drug companies, including policy changes that would increase reimbursements for lifesaving drugs kept under lock and key and used only when existing therapies fail. Legislation that would address the problem has not gained traction in recent years. Drug-resistant infections kill 700,000 people a year across the globe, according to the United Nations, which has warned that the death toll could rise to 10 million by 2050 without concerted action. Dr. Peter Beyer, a senior adviser at the WHO who led the effort to create the new fund, said the threat of antimicrobial resistance rivaled that of the coronavirus pandemic, but it was a slow-rolling crisis that could feel abstract to political leaders focused on the next election cycle. “Hopefully this fund can bridge the gap until politicians realize the urgency of antimicrobial resistance,” he said. Everly Macario, a public health expert at The University of Chicago Medicine who focuses on antimicrobial resistance, understands how abstract the threat can feel. In 2004, her 18-month- old son, Simon, died from a drug-resistant staph infection within 24 hours of arriving at a hospital emergency room with breathing difficulties. “People think drug-resistant infections are something that affects other people,” she said. “But one day, all of us, both young and old, will need an antibiotic. A world in which antibiotics no longer work is something that should terrify everyone.”

Businesses from textiles to sports goods and furniture are shuttered or working at a bare minimum. View More

By Manoj Kumar and Nupur Anand MEERUT/MUMBAI - India re-opened for business in June after months of lockdown but for thousands of small entrepreneurs in the town of Meerut, near Delhi, the blow has been devastating. Businesses from textiles to sports goods and furniture are shuttered or working at a bare minimum, and cows roam streets that would be normally packed with workers and vehicles. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's programme to help small businesses back on their feet through $40 billion of government-gauranteed loans is too little and may not be enough to save the many companies that form the backbone of India's economy, nearly three dozen entrepreneuers Reuters spoke to across the country said. Some said their business was so hamstrung by the pandemic that taking on new debt made little sense. They would rather the government had helped them by cutting the goods and service tax or waive off the interest on loans. Others said that despite Modi's promise to open up the credit lines, it was not easy convincing bankers to lend because of the death throes their businesses were in. Ashok, whose near 10 million rupees ($133,000) annual turnover company based in Meerut made steel furniture for hotels and schools, said he had fired eight of his 10 workers and was thinking of shutting down the operation. "It would be better for me to close the unit than to run from pillar to post to get a loan," said Ashok, who did not want to give his full name. He said his banker told him his creditworthiness is low as his business is struggling. The Finance Ministry, which has made the loan support scheme the centerpiece of the rescue effort, did not respond to a Reuters request for comment on the problems faced by businessmen. Small businesses that account for nearly one-quarter of India's $2.9 trillion economy and employ more than 500 million workers are the worst affected by the pandemic. Nearly 35% of the 650 million small businesses across the country could shut down soon in the absence of government support, the Consortium of Indian Associations said in a letter to Modi's office seen by Reuters. DOLE OUT LOANSBankers said there is government pressure to dole out loans, but businesses are not coming forward as demand remains tepid. Till now, lenders have paid out 561 billion rupees, barely 19% of the sum earmarked, and approved loans worth 1,145 billion rupees since the third week of May, according to government data. Businesses say that the lenders are either asking for increased paperwork or the ones in desperate needs are being deemed ineligible. "I was asked to provide a collateral and also buy an insurance for getting this loan whereas it is supposed to be collateral free," said an entrepreneur in Modi's home state of Gujarat. But two bankers said that securing money from the government even in a fully-backed sovereign guarantee scheme is not easy. "The experience is unpleasant," said the former corporate head of a state-owned bank. "You lend to most of these businesses only because government has directed but when it comes to getting back the money, one has to spend considerable resources and time which makes little sense," he added. Businesses have been pushed to the wall as their suppliers have not paid and orders have trickled to zero while fixed costs including electricity, wages, installments for earlier bank loans have drained their funds. "We have not got a single rupee relief from the government," said Sanjeev Rastogi, a garment manufacturer in Meerut who is running his factories at 25% of the production capacity. Rastogi has incurred a loss of 3.5 million rupees in the last two months and believes he may have to close down his business in the next three months. About 25% small factories out of over 10,000 textile units in Meerut could shut down and default on bank loans in the next few months, said Anurag Agarwal, chairman of the Meerut chapter of Indian Industry Association. Rastogi is making last ditch efforts to remain in business. "Otherwise, I will sell the factory at any price to save some money for my retirement."

In his remarks to the International Energy Agency ‘Clean Energy Transition Summit', UN Secretary General Guterres urged the international community to commit to no new coal and to end all external financing of coal in the developing world. View More

India is a "good example” as solar auctions have seen popularity amidst the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, UN chief Antonio Guterres said on Thursday, underlining that renewable energy is the only energy source expected to grow in 2020 and offers more jobs than the fossil fuel industry. In his remarks to the International Energy Agency ‘Clean Energy Transition Summit', UN Secretary General Guterres urged the international community to commit to no new coal and to end all external financing of coal in the developing world. “Coal has no place in COVID-19 recovery plans. Nations must commit to net-zero emissions by 2050 and submit more ambitious national climate plans before COP-26 next year,” he said. "The seeds of change are there. Renewable energy is the only energy source expected to grow in 2020. Solar auctions have seen popularity amidst the height of the pandemic. India serves as a good example. Renewables offer three times more jobs than the fossil fuel industry,” Guterres said. Last month, Adani Green Energy said it has bagged the first of its kind manufacturing-linked solar contract worth Rs 45,000 crore from the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) to develop 8 GW electricity generation capacity and 2 GW equipment manufacturing facility in the country. Guterres said he has asked all countries to consider six climate positive actions as they rescue, rebuild and reset their economies. “We need to make our societies more resilient. We need green jobs and sustainable growth,” he said, adding that bailout support to sectors such as industry, aviation and shipping should be conditioned on alignment with the goals of the Paris Agreement. Countries also need to stop wasting money on fossil fuel subsidies and place a price on carbon, he said, noting that countries need to consider climate risk in their decision making. “Every financial decision must take account of environmental and social impacts. Overall, we need to work together.” Guterres said while he is encouraged that some COVID-19 response and recovery plans put the transition from fossil fuels at their core, some countries have used stimulus plans to prop up oil and gas companies that were already struggling financially and others have chosen to jumpstart coal-fired power plants that don't make financial or environmental sense. He stressed that nations must limit temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius to avert more and worse disasters. "This means net-zero emissions by 2050, and 45 per cent cuts by 2030 from 2010 levels. This is still achievable.” The UN chief noted that the rationale for the clean energy pathway is economics. “Per kilowatt hour, solar energy is now cheaper than coal in most countries. If we had any doubt about the direction the wind is blowing, the real economy is showing us,” he said, adding that the business case for renewable energy is now better than coal in virtually every market. Fossil fuels are increasingly risky business with fewer takers.”

The company has updated the filing to reflect the new business environment. View More

MUMBAI: Mindspace Business Parks REIT, an entity jointly backed by realty developer K Raheja Corp and private equity major Blackstone Group, has revised its draft prospectus to raise Rs 1,000 crore through fresh issue of shares via an initial public offering (IPO). Both the entities are expected to offer a part of their existing shareholding through the offer for sale. In January, ET had reported that this offer for sale will be around Rs 2,000 crore taking the total issue size to Rs 3,000 crore. The company has updated the filing to reflect the new business environment in the backdrop of the Covid-19 induced lockdown. It has leased additional 7 lakh sq ft to tenants across various properties since April 1. As per the revised filing with Sebi, it has completed additional 3.3 million sq. ft. of new office space since its previous filing last year. “While we did not incur significant disruptions in our operations from Covid-19 during the financial year ended March 31, 2020 and collected 99.4% of our gross contracted rentals for the month of March 2020, our properties were not fully occupied by the tenants for the months of April and May 2020,” the revised draft prospectus said. However, the company also added that it has collected 97.8% and 95.2% of its gross contracted rentals for the months of April and May 2020 during lockdown. The company has reported net profit of Rs 513.9 crore for the year ended March on the back of total income of Rs 2,026.2 crore. Its portfolio includes a total leasable area of 29.5 million sq ft with five integrated business parks and five independent offices across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, Pune, Hyderabad, and Chennai. As on March end, the total market value of its portfolio is Rs 23,675 crore, including the facility management division. The company’s clients include the likes of Accenture, Qualcomm, UBS, JP Morgan, Amazon, Barclays, Facebook and Capgemini. As of May end, committed occupancy of its portfolio stood at 92.4% and average rent was Rs 52.5 per sq ft.

The ministry further said the production of finished steel in June 2020 at 5.9 MT, was up 15.6 per cent compared to 5.1 MT in May 2020. However, on year-on-year basis, the output of finished steel in June 2020 was lower by 33.3 per cent. View More

NEW DELHI: The steel sector in India has started showing signs of improvement and in the month of June the country's crude steel production stood at 6.8 million tonne (MT), according to the Ministry of Steel . At, 6.8 MT, the production was 17.7 per cent higher over May, 2020, but on a year-on-year basis it was lower by 27.2 per cent over June 2019, the ministry said in an update. It noted that economic activities , after hitting the nadir in April 2020 due to spread of COVID-19 pandemic and nationwide lockdown , have started showing signs of improvement from May 2020. "This was reflected in the performance of eight core industries (with a weight of 40.27 per cent in IIP) which as against a decline of 37 per cent in April 2020 registered a decline of 23.4 per cent in the month of May 2020. Similarly the Index of steel production which fell sharply by 83.9 per cent in April 2020 registered a decline of 48.4 per cent in May 2020," the ministry said. On the output of steel, it said the production has shown a consistent improvement after witnessing a decline in April this fiscal. The ministry further said the production of finished steel in June 2020 at 5.9 MT, was up 15.6 per cent compared to 5.1 MT in May 2020. However, on year-on-year basis, the output of finished steel in June 2020 was lower by 33.3 per cent. On month-on-month basis, in June 2020, the retail prices of HRC (hot rolled coil), CRC (cold rolled coil) and rebar increased by 1.43 per cent, 1.69 per cent and 2.17 per cent respectively, due to uptick in various activities because of phased relaxation in lockdown along with an increase in exports during the month. " BSE Sensex and BSE Metal Indices registered an increase of 6.1 per cent and 4.7 per cent respectively, in the month of June, 2020 indicating recovery after lockdown," it said. The government has set a target of scaling up India's crude steel making capacity to 300 million tonne by 2030. The ministry also said while ensuring increase in production of steel and its consumption, it is also necessary to identify and address the challenges the users face in terms of adopting domestic steel products.

The lobby group has urged the commerce and industry ministry for an initial 5% refund rate, subsequently going up to 12-13%, citing the high burden of unrebated taxes and duties, which are about 15% of production cost. View More

New Delhi: India's key aluminium industry body has sought a top tax refund rate of 12-13% under a proposed export scheme, compared to the 2% it receives under an existing one. The Aluminium Association of India counts Hindalco Industries , Bharat Aluminium Company, National Aluminium Company and Jindal Aluminium Ltd among its members. The lobby group has urged the commerce and industry ministry for an initial 5% refund rate, subsequently going up to 12-13%, citing the high burden of unrebated taxes and duties, which are about 15% of production cost. India’s top aluminium exports include unalloyed and alloyed aluminium ingots, billets, slabs, wire rods and plates. The country exported aluminium products worth $5.5 billion in the previous fiscal year. The government had asked the industry to come up with refund rates for various sectors. “The RoDTEP (Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products) scheme rates will be decided after consultations among the ministries of commerce and industry, finance, respective line ministries and industry,” a government official said. Indian exporters are currently covered under the Merchandise Export from India Scheme. “Indian exports are suffering due to the measures taken by the US to impose 10% tariffs on aluminium imports and granting exemption to Australia, Argentina, Canada and Mexico, which constitutes almost 50% of the US’ aluminium imports,” said an industry representative. Chinese companies have cornered more than half of the global market share in aluminium due to the large subsidies given by its government, he added. Further, with the US withdrawing the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) benefits to India, India’s aluminium exports are now subject to an additional 2.6-6% duty over and above the 10% tariffs, while the same product from Canada, Mexico, Argentina and Australia are imported into the US at zero duty. “Being in the government’s priority list, fast-track implementation of the RoDTEP scheme for aluminium will boost exports by reducing the burden of unrebated taxes and duties and entail global cost competitiveness in international markets,” said Rahul Sharma, president of the Aluminium Association of India. The Union Cabinet had approved RoDTEP in March. This is a scheme for exporters to reimburse taxes and duties paid by them, such as value added tax, coal cess, mandi tax, electricity duties and fuel used for transportation, which are not exempted or refunded under any other existing mechanism.

Electrical resistivity is an intrinsic material property and is influenced by chemical composition. Based on internal discussion, the alloy design and process route was finalized wherein low levels of carbon and silicon were major technological challenges. View More

KOLKATA: Steel Authority of India 's Iisco Steel Plant Burnpur (SAIL- ISP) has introduced a premium segment of wire rod products , as part of its effort to expand market share across various industries and cater to growing needs of its customers. In step with this objective, SAIL-ISP took up the development of “Cable Armour Quality Wire Rod" to enrich its product basket. "It belongs to the premium segment of wire rod market wherein electrical resistivity is the most important requirement. Steel wire armour provides mechanical protection, which means the cable can withstand higher stresses, an official statement said. Electrical resistivity is an intrinsic material property and is influenced by chemical composition. Based on internal discussion, the alloy design and process route was finalized wherein low levels of carbon and silicon were major technological challenges. "Through the optimized usage of process enablers, cast billets were produced and rolled into 5.5 mm wire rods. Extensive product analysis for resistivity measurement under controlled environment was done in-house," the statement added. About 170 MT have been produced and supplied to different customers and the plant has received positive feedback on it.

"During Q1 CY2020, the industry reported over 23% volume decline, with volumes in March’20 falling by ~50%," ratings agency ICRA said in its latest research report on the sector. View More

The Mining and Construction equipment sector (MCE) industry is likely to see a contraction in demand leading to a volume drop of 20% in calendar year 2020 (CY2020) due to the ongoing economic slowdown although the sector reported some demand pick-up in June’20. "During Q1 CY2020, the industry reported over 23% volume decline, with volumes in March’20 falling by ~50%," ratings agency ICRA said in its latest research report on the sector. The volume contraction continued in April and May’20 too before reporting a surprising pick-up in June 20. Given this situation, the MCE industry is expected to suffer a volume decline of over 20% in CY2020, due to two months of lost sales and an overall weakness in the economy, the report added. ICRA said it continues to maintain negative outlook for the domestic mining and construction equipment (MCE) sector based on the prevailing overall scenario. After three strong years and the industry volumes peaking at about 94,000 units, CY2019 saw the industry volumes fall by 16%. Rural demand has been up with vehicle utilization levels trending up since May 2020 led by agriculture, irrigation, canal clearing and mulching activities, ICRA said. However, the strain on state finances will impact funding for infrastructural projects and is one of the key risks to infrastructure investments in the coming quarters which could have a telling impact on CE demand, the report added. Further, private sector capex, and interest in public private partnership (PPP) based infrastructure projects is also expected to be limited in the near term, due to increased risk averseness, and limited capital availability, it pointed out. Pavethra Ponniah, Vice President, ICRA said: “The MCE industry witnessed some demand recovery in June 2020 after a prolonged downturn, driven mainly by rural demand for construction equipment (CE). However, while the revival during the month of June is no doubt a positive sign, it is in no way conclusive; the same has to be sustainable in the near to medium term and much will be contingent on the underlying economy and headroom for infrastructural spend.” Typically, CE demand is strongly correlated to economic activity and government (and private) investments in infrastructure and other long-term fixed assets. In the current context, GDP growth has slid to a 44-quarter low of 3.1% in Q4 FY2020 with onset of lockdown. Domestic steel consumption and cement production has witnessed de-growth at -7% and -5% respectively. The contraction in Gross Fixed Capital Formation ( GFCF ) in the economy has worsened to series low 6.5% in Q4 FY2020. With no let-up in covid-19 outbreak, climbing infections and localized lockdowns, recovery will be delayed. Thus there exists significant negative bias to current forecasts. Strong economic growth and infrastructural activity (during FY2017 to FY2019) had triggered buying in the MCE industry during CY2015-18; the volumes grew at a 3-year CAGR of 27% during this period while the GFCF too expanded by 6.5-10% annually (FY16-FY19). GFCF contracted in the Q2 and Q3 FY2020 for the first time in more than 4-years due to reduced infrastructure activity coupled with moderation in exports and private consumption growth – all of which dragged GDP performance in Q4 FY2020. While Q4 FY2020 was impacted by the pandemic outbreak, economic activity and demand for CE had started contracting way back in December’18, triggered by the infra slowdown in Q4 FY2019, in the run-up to the elections. Within the infrastructure segment, the biggest demand driver for CE over the past several years has been road activity – both for state roads and national highways. The pace of new project awards (under both NHAI and MORTH ) have been relatively weak in the last two years due to factors like high land cost, general elections, legal hurdles impacting land acquisition and funding constraints. This pipeline of awards, going into FY2021 was already leading to a pre-Covid muted outlook for CE demand in CY2020. However, March 2020 and the subsequent two months, of April and May 20, witnessed a surge in road project awards. Execution understandably fell sharply during the Covid lockdown; revival in execution needs to be watched in the coming months. The Covid outbreak has widened state governments’ revenue deficits leading to narrowed headroom for capital expenditure. State-led capex accounts for over half of total Government capital expenditure in the country. Over the last three years, state-capex spend grew by 16% with the top-5 states - UP, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat accounting for 43% of total state capex. These include irrigation, roads, metros and drinking water supply projects which are focus areas for state governments. Amidst considerable volatility in growth trends in the first three quarters of FY2020, the pace of Y-o-Y decline in the capital outlay of 20 state governments, for which the data is available, worsened and doubled to 12% in Q4 FY2020 from 6% in Q3 FY2020. This contrasted with the healthy expansion in FY2019 and the impact of this slowdown was reflected in the ~23% contraction in sales of equipment during FY2020. In the current scenario, revenues of both the Central and the state governments have been impacted resulting in reduced government expenditure. While central government projects could still continue with its implementing agencies, the Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) borrowing (to fund the expenditure), to budget for the sharp reduction in revenue receipts during FY2021 and the limited flexibility to prune revenue expenditure and increase borrowings, many state governments may have to resort to cut or defer capital expenditure. “The strain on state finances will impact funding for infrastructural projects and is one of the key risks to infrastructure investments in the coming quarters which could have a telling impact on CE demand," Ponnia said. "Further, private sector capex, and interest in public private partnership (PPP) based infrastructure projects is also expected to be limited in the near term, due to increased risk averseness, and limited capital availability," she added.