According to a Reuters article using a classified document dated October 6, 2025, which has not been made public, an anti-trust investigation of 28 steel manufacturers, including Tata Steel and JSW Steel, determined that these businesses had violated antitrust laws by coordinating over price.
CCI Investigation Into Steel Price Collusion
According to a CCI order cited by Reuters in a report published on January 6, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) has also held 56 senior executives accountable for price collusion over varying periods of time between 2015 and 2023, including JSW’s Managing Director Sajjan Jindal, Tata Steel CEO T.V. Narendran, and four former SAIL chairpersons.
The investigation brings up long-standing concerns about market concentration, pricing power, and competition in India’s steel sector. Here’s a deeper look at the reasons for the CCI’s intervention and the scope of the investigation:
Post-Pandemic Demand Surge and Price Rise
In 2021, the car industry’s resurgence and an increase in infrastructure investment led to a dramatic post-pandemic boom in demand for steel. Supply-side restrictions, such as China’s stringent policies, increased the momentum.
In this context, steel prices increased sharply; by November 2020, per-tonne prices had increased by around 45%, and they continued to rise after that.
Product-Wise Steel Price Trends
Prices for a number of product categories, including steel wires, TMT bars, and cold-rolled coils, increased almost every month starting in early 2021. The steelmakers highlighted strong demand from the car industry as one of the reasons why rates are still lower than those in other countries.
Steelmakers also claimed that a steep increase in international transportation costs and a post-COVID jump in demand and pricing for essential inputs like iron ore and coking coal had compelled them to raise prices.
🏗️ Steel Price Surge: Key Factors
- Demand Boost: Auto sector recovery and infrastructure push
- Supply Constraints: China’s restrictive steel policies
- Input Costs: Higher prices for iron ore and coking coal
- Logistics: Rising global freight and transport costs
- Timeline: Sharp price rise from late 2020 onwards
Raw Material Imports and Cost Pressures
Major Indian steelmakers often purchase a significant portion of their coking coal and iron ore from foreign markets. Steelmakers and industry analysts pointed out that the pandemic’s worldwide trade chokepoints and the ensuing limitations also led to shortages of raw materials, which raised costs.
According to a Ministry of Mines data, iron ore imports into India fell precipitously during the epidemic, from 7.51 million tons in 2019–20 to 7.24 million tons in 2020–2021 and 6.68 million tons in 2021–2022.
Due to substantial price inflation for iron ore in international markets, the value of imported iron ore increased dramatically to Rs 3,539 crore in 2021–2022 from Rs 844 crore the previous year.
Genesis of the CCI Probe
CCI began an investigation in February 2021 to determine if steel makers had established a cartel. Steel corporations were allegedly engaging in cartelization, according to Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari.
The investigation began when a number of groups representing real estate developers requested government action due to skyrocketing steel and cement prices, which increased their building expenses by ten to twenty percent. In 2022, as part of an industry probe, the watchdog conducted raids on a few minor steel businesses.
From the first nine corporations that the builders identified, Reuters published and subsequently extended the probe to 31 businesses and industry associations.
🏘️ Impact on Real Estate Sector
- Cost Increase: Steel prices up nearly 55% in six months
- Builders’ Concern: Construction costs rose 10–20%
- Project Delays: Several developments stalled
- Homebuyers: Higher apartment prices passed on to consumers
- Employment Risk: Threat to blue-collar construction jobs
When steel manufacturers coordinate supply or pricing rather than engaging in independent competition, this is known as steel price collusion. This kind of coordination, which is often carried out in secret, distorts the market by restricting customers’ options and maintaining artificially high prices. Because it enables businesses to increase profits at the expense of consumers and downstream sectors, this behavior is illegal under competition rules.
For the most of 2020, the real estate industry was already dealing with difficulties as a result of COVID-19-related building halts. Their predicament became worse due to the steep increase in steel costs, which made many of them stop building, which affected the projects’ completion.
Due to the developers’ inability to cover the higher expenses by the end of 2021, they chose to pass those costs on to customers, which might result in price increases for ready-to-move-in apartments. Convincing clients of this added cost was a difficult challenge for builders.
Real estate specialists estimate that the cost of steel as a percentage of total building expenditures is between 15 and 20 percent, however this might vary depending on the area. On a per square foot basis, it amounts to an effect of between Rs 1,500 and Rs 3,000, which is a substantial cost line item for developers.
Due to growing costs for inputs like steel and cement, certain chapters of CREDAI, India’s leading real estate lobby that represents big developers, have threatened to halt construction on real estate projects, which are a significant source of blue-collar employment.
Ultimately, a complaint by the Coimbatore Corporation Contractors Welfare Association, a group of builders, led to the filing of a lawsuit in 2021. The group claimed that over a six-month period ending in March 2021, the steel makers conspired to artificially raise steel prices by almost 55% and restrict supply to consumers and builders. Later, a state court mandated that the CCI look into the matter.
