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Indian Stainless Steel Development Association ties up with the Global Stainless Steel Expo View More

This comes amid a high-profile corruption sentencing and an MSCI warning Indonesia could be downgraded to frontier-market status. View More

A bundle of Indonesian rupiah and US dollar banknotes arranged at a currency exchange office in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Monday, June 8, 2026. Indonesia's finance and central bank officials said over the weekend they will boost efforts to stabilize the currency and attract inflows after the nation's stocks tumbled at the fastest pace worldwide last week. Photographer: Dimas Ardian/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesBloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images Investors will be increasingly wary of Indonesia following a high profile corruption conviction and a warning by index provider MSCI of a potential downgrade of the country's markets, experts warn. There's already evidence: the Jakarta Composite has also lost 7.9% in the last one month and almost 35% year to date. Concern about President Prabowo Subianto's fiscal policies, index provider MSCI's concerns about stock-market governance and now a high-profile corruption case where a former minister was handed a hefty fine and a 10-year prison sentence, are weighing on the country's assets."The Prabowo administration's populist policies have raised concerns with credit ratings agencies and are viewed unfavorably by offshore investors," Jayden Vantarakis, head of Asean equity research at Macquarie Capital, wrote in a July 1 note. A Bank of America survey published in mid-June showed that Indonesia has fallen to fund managers' least-preferred market in Asia, overtaking India. Ratings company S&P Global in February warned that rising fiscal pressures, particularly higher debt-servicing costs, had increased downside risks for Indonesia's sovereign credit profile. Foreign investors have reacted, net selling $4.11 billion of Indonesian stocks in 2026.Bhima Adhinegara, executive director at the Center of Economic and Law Studies in Indonesia, said on CNBC's "Squawk Box Asia" that one example of a problematic policy is the so called "single gate" export system launched in May, where exports of palm oil, coal, and ferroalloys are funneled through a designated state-owned enterprise, PT Danantara Sumberdaya Indonesia. While Jakarta says that this is to reduce revenue leakage and enhance transparency, Adhinegara said that this gives investors the impression that the Indonesian government wants "to take over many of the natural resources and make new layers of bureaucracy very difficult."Furthermore, former education minister Nadiem Makarim was sentenced to 10 years in prison after an Indonesian court found finding him guilty in a corruption case involving the country's education digitalization program. Makarim, who is also co-founder of ride-hailing and payments giant Gojek, was fined 1 billion Indonesian rupiah ($55,870) — and ordered to pay 809.6 billion rupiah in restitution.Prosecutors allege that he and other officials steered technical specifications toward Google products, getting the education ministry to procure Chromebooks at inflated prices despite trial results indicating that the laptops were unsuitable for use in remote regions. The signal to the business community "is very clear. You need to be very, very careful when you're dealing with the government's budget, when you're dealing with the government procurement," Adhinegara said. This is making investors in the startup scene think twice if they want to be involved with companies that are close to the government, he added. The case also comes after index provider MSCI last week extended Indonesia's market review till November. It warned months ago that the country could be downgraded to "frontier market" status from its current "emerging market" classification. MSCI raised concerns about market accessibility earlier this year and froze the country's stocks from its indexes in January, citing investibility concerns.Adhinegara said that it was a "challenging situation," but pointed out Jakarta is still hesitant to open up information to the market to to make it more transparent."If we miss this opportunity to reform the stock market, Indonesia perhaps can be on the consultative or watchlist," he said, and "the next step after November will be [a] downgrade [to] the frontier market." Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.

"Banks had claims attached to the personal guarantees issued by the Essar promoters which was linked to the Essar Steel resolution. AM/NS' plan had made specific provisions to pay off these liabilities too, but there were some legal issues which are now resolved, allowing banks and AM/NS to complete this deal," said a person familiar with the details. View More

MUMBAI: ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India (AM/NS) has paid Rs 200 crore to banks to take over the personal guarantees of Essar Group promoters, Prashant and Ravi Ruia , completing the residual part of the resolution plan implemented back in 2019, multiple people aware of the details told ET. AM/NS completed the transaction, which also involved the lead creditor State Bank of India ( SBI ), earlier this month, said one of the people cited above. It took charge of the claims of banks after no other buyer came forward to place a competing bid in a Swiss challenge auction, these people said. "Banks had claims attached to the personal guarantees issued by the Essar promoters which was linked to the Essar Steel resolution. AM/NS' plan had made specific provisions to pay off these liabilities too, but there were some legal issues which are now resolved, allowing banks and AM/NS to complete this deal," said a person familiar with the details. Banks clear RBI stress test, but NPAs tick up in tough scenarios Live Events An AM/NS spokesperson did not reply to an email seeking comment. A consortium of banks led by SBI had invited bids for personal guarantees of Essar Group promoters Prashant and Ravi Ruia at a reserve price of Rs 200 crore for the Rs 13,751 crore of residual liabilities payable from the group after adjusting for the recovery from Essar Steel's resolution plan completed in 2019, ET had reported in its May 26 edition. IBBI seeks to streamline real estate insolvency regulations with focus on homebuyers The total amount of Rs 13,751 crore was calculated after taking into account the residual recoveries from Essar Steel including accumulated interest post the ArcelorMittal deal. Bankers had put these claims up for sale which also included corporate guarantees by companies like Essar Investments, Essar Steel Mauritius, Essar Steel Asia and Essar Steel Ltd along with personal guarantees from the Ruia family. An Essar spokesperson did not reply to an email seeking comment. "Banks had put these up for sale under a process for 'assignment of claims' on an 'as-is basis' without recourse. AM/NS's bid was accepted after a due process and checking the legal position. The debt has been assigned to AM/NS and money already received by banks," said a second person aware of the details. Process advisor BoB Capital Markets did not reply to an email seeking comment. AM/NS' takeover of these dues were part of the company's resolution plan for Essar Steel in 2019. Lenders led by SBI had recovered close to 90% of their more than Rs 49,000 crore dues from the company when the bankruptcy process was completed after a Supreme Court order in 2019. Banks moved to recover the residual Rs 7,000 crore to Rs 9,000 crore from guarantees which compounded to Rs 13,751 crore with interest. Personal guarantees were brought under the bankruptcy purview in December 2019, allowing lenders to initiate recoveries against promoter guarantees separately while also pursuing corporate repossessions. .Pbanner{display:flex;justify-content:space-between;align-items:center;background-color:#ec1c40;margin-top:20px;padding:5px 10px;border-radius:4px;color:#fff;line-height:10px;} .Pbannertext{display:flex;align-items:center;font-size:16px;font-weight:600;font-family:'Montserrat';} .Pbannertext img{height:20px;margin:0 6px} .Pbannerbutton a{display:flex;align-items:center;background-color:#fff;color:#ec1c40;text-decoration:none;font-weight:600;padding:4px 8px;border-radius:6px;font-size:15px;font-family:'Montserrat';} .Pbannerbutton img{height:20px;margin-right:6px} .Pbannerbutton a:hover{background-color:#f7f7f7} Add as a Reliable and Trusted News Source Add Now! (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel) (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel)

Trump's huge defense budget request and a race to replenish weapons stocks while building hypersonic missiles lead to war between U.S. states for jobs. View More

In this articleSPCXFollow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNT watch nowVIDEO2:5002:50America’s Top States for Business 2026: Defense industry sees big growthSquawk Box One of the many lessons from the wars in Iran and Ukraine is that the supply of munitions and weapons systems is finite, and difficult to replenish. That has led to a new way of doing business at the Pentagon, and a new battleground in the war between the states for jobs and economic development. "We're seeing a lot of growth coming out of the Department of War, new programs, new startups, really the SpaceX-ification, if you will, of the Pentagon," said consultant Tom Stringer of Stringer Site Selection and Incentives in New York. In fact, three alumni of Elon Musk's space technology and AI company are behind a prime example of the new model. Castelion, a three-year-old startup based in Torrance, California, is trying to apply SpaceX's business model to hypersonic missiles. "This is going to be one of the most important capabilities in the American arsenal," said co-founder and CEO Bryon Hargis on CNBC's Squawk Box in January. Hargis, a physicist by training, previously led SpaceX's national security product development. The U.S. military is well-versed in hypersonic missile technology. The trick, under the Pentagon's new approach, is being able to develop the new missiles quickly, produce them at scale, and deliver a lot of them to the battlefield. The traditional defense procurement model — at least in recent years — offered little incentive for contractors to do that. Instead, under so-called "cost-plus" contracts, they could simply bill the government for their costs — including farming out work to subcontractors — then tack on a pre-determined fee. By contrast, Castelion, which has agreements to deliver at least 500 missiles per year and potentially thousands more, is raising private capital instead of government appropriations — more than $550 million to date — to fund a massive, vertically integrated manufacturing operation.   Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwardsCastelion's prototype missile development test is launched from a mobile launcher in MojaveCastelion | Reuters Castelion has contracts with multiple service branches to deliver its first weapons system, dubbed Blackbeard. But rather than cost-plus contracts, Castelion is operating under so-called "firm-fixed-price contracts" — the government pays the same price regardless of Castelion's costs. That shifts the cost risks to the contractor from the government. That is a game changer, said Castelion co-founder and chief operating officer Sean Pitt, a former SpaceX director of commercial sales who previously served as an aide to Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, a member of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee. "We're really applying standard commercial manufacturing strategies to a space that hasn't had them applied to it for many decades," he said. "It is not acceptable to come up with a design that we can only produce a couple dozen of. Instead, manufacturability in the thousands at a cost per missile that is measured in hundreds of thousands of dollars was our guiding light from the beginning, and that's what we're executing against today." That is where the economic development opportunities — and challenges — come in. How 'SpaceX of hypersonic missiles' landed in New MexicoDelivering on Castelion's vision, and doing so profitably, would require a huge manufacturing facility, built fast. "We're in a dead sprint to scale production," said co-founder and chief financial officer Andrew Kreitz. "Nothing we do matters until we are in high-rate production with our first weapon system," he said. Kreitz, a former Goldman Sachs investment banker who became a SpaceX senior finance manager before leaving to start Castelion, led a year-long search for a location. He said it ultimately came down to sites in Arizona, Tennessee and New Mexico. In January, the company broke ground on a 1,000-acre campus in Sandoval County, New Mexico, approximately 30 miles north of Albuquerque. "The reality is, if you draw the Venn diagram of places where you can get a lot of land, a sort of shovel-ready, able to move in quick site, and the talent base to actually staff the factory, there are very few places in America that can do that, and New Mexico stood out," Kreitz said.  Castelion's Project Ranger site in Sandoval County, New Mexico, a 1,000-acre manufacturing campus designed to support high-cadence production of hypersonic missile strike systems.Scott Cohn | CNBC In addition to having the space — which quickly ruled out expanding the company's California headquarters or its facility in Texas — New Mexico has a long heritage of defense production, and a wealth of talent from Sandia and Los Alamos National Laboratories. Stringer, the site selection consultant who helped broker the deal, said New Mexico also offered seamless coordination at all levels of government, and across party lines. "There was almost no red tape. That's the best way to describe it," he said. "Everyone was at the table from day one in New Mexico." The state and Castelion estimate the $220 million project will create 300 high-paying jobs and provide $650 million in economic impact over the next ten years. "Castelion chose our state because we have the workforce, the expertise and the infrastructure they need to succeed," said Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham in January.  "This company will be critical to catch up and pass China and Russia in hypersonic technologies," said Republican State Sen. Jay Block. "This is a race we cannot lose," he added. Stringer said there will be plenty more opportunities for states to win similar projects, especially with the Pentagon's unprecedented, $1.5 trillion budget request. "We need to build really phenomenal products that deliver and that we can scale and build and deploy quickly at cost, and that's a sea change," he said. Castelion, meanwhile, is wasting no time getting its manufacturing underway. The company says just six months after breaking ground, 15 of the 21 buildings on the New Mexico campus are already under construction, with 1.6 million cubic yards of dirt moved. In fact, Pitt noted that even before the company had settled on a site, it had already purchased the steel for construction. "Doing things like buying this steel before we had our site selected is what allows us to keep our timeline of fielding our first weapon next year," he said.  And, he said, that is just the beginning. "We're talking about already committing 300 jobs to the state of New Mexico at this facility," he said. "I expect us to significantly exceed that, and then we'll continue to look for additional sites, both in New Mexico and across the country." CNBC will reveal America's Top States for Business in 2026 – our 20th year – on July 9.  watch nowVIDEO6:0106:01Castelion CEO: Hypersonics will be one of the most important capabilities in the American arsenalSquawk Box Correction: This story has been updated to reflect that Castelion has contracts with multiple service branches to deliver its first weapons system, dubbed Blackbeard. Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.

The transaction stands fully completed and JFE now holds 50% of the shareholding in JSW JFE Kalinga and, JSW Steel said in an exchange filing View More

According to a new briefing from InfluenceMap, India’s largest steelmakers are engaging more constructively on climate and energy policy than their counterparts in Japan and Korea View More

Half of the import quotas have been reserved exclusively for free ?trade agreement (FTA) ?partners, with the remaining half available to all trading partners, including FTA partners View More

Domestic stainless steel makers are pressing the government to reinstate quality control norms from July 1, warning that a temporary QCO relaxation has fueled a flood of cheap imports. The Indian Stainless Seamlesspipes Manufacturers Association highlights that this influx, coupled with alleged anti-dumping duty circumvention, has crippled industry capacity to below 50%, jeopardizing local manufacturers. They urge immediate QCO restoration to curb substandard goods. View More

New Delhi: The domestic stainless steel industry has urged the government not to extend the temporary relaxation from the Quality Control Order (QCO) beyond June 30 and to restore the norms from July 1. The Indian Stainless Seamlesspipes Manufacturers Association ( ISSMA ) said the industry is grappling with a surge in low-priced imports , facilitated by the temporary withdrawal of the QCO and the alleged circumvention of anti-dumping duties . The relaxation expires on June 30, with the QCO set to come back into force from July 1. "The industry's capacity utilisation has fallen to below 50%, threatening the viability of domestic primary manufacturers," Prakash Tatia, spokesperson at ISSMA, told ET. He said the association had "urged the government to reinstate the QCO at the earliest to prevent the inflow of sub-standard imports". .Pbanner{display:flex;justify-content:space-between;align-items:center;background-color:#ec1c40;margin-top:20px;padding:5px 10px;border-radius:4px;color:#fff;line-height:10px;} .Pbannertext{display:flex;align-items:center;font-size:16px;font-weight:600;font-family:'Montserrat';} .Pbannertext img{height:20px;margin:0 6px} .Pbannerbutton a{display:flex;align-items:center;background-color:#fff;color:#ec1c40;text-decoration:none;font-weight:600;padding:4px 8px;border-radius:6px;font-size:15px;font-family:'Montserrat';} .Pbannerbutton img{height:20px;margin-right:6px} .Pbannerbutton a:hover{background-color:#f7f7f7} Add as a Reliable and Trusted News Source Add Now! (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel) (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel)

VMS TMT has announced its board has approved the merger with TMT bars maker Aditya Ultra Steel Ltd (AUSL). This strategic amalgamation aims to create a robust entity by combining manufacturing, distribution, and financial strengths. Shareholders of AUSL will receive 75 VMS TMT shares for every 100 held. The combined company anticipates a significant boost in manufacturing capacity and operational efficiencies. View More

New Delhi: Steel products manufacturer VMS TMT Ltd on Monday said its board has approved the merger of TMT bars maker Aditya Ultra Steel Ltd (AUSL) with the company. The proposed amalgamation will combine the manufacturing infrastructure, distribution network, management expertise, and financial resources of both companies, creating a stronger platform for sustainable long-term growth, VMS TMT said in a statement. "Under the approved Scheme of Amalgamation, shareholders of Aditya Ultra Steel Ltd will receive 75 equity shares of VMS TMT Ltd for every 100 equity shares held in Aditya Ultra Steel Limited," the company said. "By bringing together two highly complementary businesses, we are creating an integrated platform with enhanced manufacturing capabilities, a wider distribution footprint, and stronger financials," Varun Jain, Chairman & Managing Director, VMS TMT Limited, said. The merger will lead to a combined installed manufacturing capacity of over 300,000 tonnes per annum, creating substantial economies of scale across procurement, production, logistics, and distribution in Gujarat, it added. VMS TMT and AUSL are Gujarat-based manufacturers of TMT steel bars. PTI .Pbanner{display:flex;justify-content:space-between;align-items:center;background-color:#ec1c40;margin-top:20px;padding:5px 10px;border-radius:4px;color:#fff;line-height:10px;} .Pbannertext{display:flex;align-items:center;font-size:16px;font-weight:600;font-family:'Montserrat';} .Pbannertext img{height:20px;margin:0 6px} .Pbannerbutton a{display:flex;align-items:center;background-color:#fff;color:#ec1c40;text-decoration:none;font-weight:600;padding:4px 8px;border-radius:6px;font-size:15px;font-family:'Montserrat';} .Pbannerbutton img{height:20px;margin-right:6px} .Pbannerbutton a:hover{background-color:#f7f7f7} Add as a Reliable and Trusted News Source Add Now! (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel) (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel)

The Indian government is set to launch a Rs 5,000 crore scheme within three months to boost clean technologies in steelmaking, aiming to slash carbon emissions. Titled the National Strategy for Sustainable Secondary Steel, the initiative will benefit all steel producers, with a significant portion allocated to smaller players. This move aligns with India's net-zero commitments, addressing the steel sector's substantial contribution to greenhouse gas emissions. View More

New Delhi: The government is planning to introduce a scheme to promote the adoption of clean technologies in steelmaking processes with an outlay of Rs 5,000 crore, according to an official. The move is aimed at reducing carbon emissions from the domestic steel industry. The scheme named National Strategy for Sustainable Secondary Steel is expected to be launched in the next three months, a senior government official told PTI. "The scheme may go for approval of the union cabinet," another official in the know of the development said. The scheme will cover all steelmakers in the country. However, a major share of the funds will be earmarked for secondary players. The National Strategy for Sustainable Secondary Steel aims to promote the adoption of clean technologies and alternative materials across various steelmaking processes to reduce carbon emissions from the domestic steel industry. Live Events The move assumes significance as India is a signatory to the Paris Agreement and aims to become a net-zero country. Steel sector is among the largest carbon-emitting industries. India's steel industry accounts for 10-12 per cent of country's greenhouse gas emissions with an emission intensity of 2.55 tonnes CO2 per tonne of crude steel, higher than the global average of around 1.9 tonnes Co2 emissions, according to official data. .Pbanner{display:flex;justify-content:space-between;align-items:center;background-color:#ec1c40;margin-top:20px;padding:5px 10px;border-radius:4px;color:#fff;line-height:10px;} .Pbannertext{display:flex;align-items:center;font-size:16px;font-weight:600;font-family:'Montserrat';} .Pbannertext img{height:20px;margin:0 6px} .Pbannerbutton a{display:flex;align-items:center;background-color:#fff;color:#ec1c40;text-decoration:none;font-weight:600;padding:4px 8px;border-radius:6px;font-size:15px;font-family:'Montserrat';} .Pbannerbutton img{height:20px;margin-right:6px} .Pbannerbutton a:hover{background-color:#f7f7f7} Add as a Reliable and Trusted News Source Add Now! (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel) (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel)