A Comparative Financial Analysis between Public and Private Sector Steel Companies in India– A Case Study Approach

Abstract

Steel is crucial for development of modern economy. Indian steel industry is one of the fastest growing industries in the whole world. India is the fifth largest steel producer in the world after China, Japan, USA and Russia. Indian steel industry is contributing around 2 percent to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and its weight in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) is 6.2 percent. India now contributes 4% to the world’s crude steel production and is capable of holding and retaining its position in future. If per capita consumption is taken into account then it can be seen that India’s per capita consumption of steel (47 kg) is less compares to the whole world (190 kg). Therefore, there is an immense scope for the Indian steel industry to grow further in future. This paper is an attempt to examine the financial performance of selected Indian steel companies and the impact of liquidity and activity factors on the profitability of the steel industry on the basis of the sample units.