CCI Steel Cartel Probe: Tata, JSW, SAIL Linked to Price Fixing via WhatsApp Groups

It’s Saturday, January 24, 2026, and if you’ve been wondering why construction costs haven’t dropped despite global trends, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) just provided a massive, messy answer.

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The country’s steel giants—Tata Steel, JSW Steel, SAIL, and RINL—are currently under the microscope for what looks like a textbook case of cartelisation. Or nothing.

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The “Steel Tycoons” Scandal: Field Notes

It’s an ongoing situation where the CCI has basically “unlocked” the industry’s private group chats. Here’s the ground reality:

• The Evidence Locker: Investigators didn’t just look at spreadsheets. They seized phones and found WhatsApp groups with names like “Friends of Steel,” “Tycoons,” and “Steel Live Market.” The thing is, these chats allegedly show rivals tipping each other off about price hikes before they happened.

• Coordinated Production Cuts: And here’s the kicker—it wasn’t just about fixing prices. Between 2020 and 2021, the big four reportedly cut production by 16% to 22% in total sync. Let’s be real—they weren’t just “managing inventory”; they were artificially starving the market to keep prices high. Those too.

• The Scale of Impact: These four companies control about 44.4% of India’s steel market. When they move together, the whole economy feels it—from your local builder to massive highway projects.

• The Liability List: This isn’t just about corporate fines. The CCI has reportedly held 56 top executives liable, including big names like JSW’s Sajjan Jindal and Tata Steel’s T.V. Narendran. It’s an ongoing situation where the “corner office” is finally being asked to explain the group chats.

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Potential Fallout: The “Hefty Fine” Reality

And Here’s the Kicker…

Under Indian law, if the cartel charge sticks, the CCI can slap them with a penalty of up to three times their profit or 10% of their annual turnover for every year the collusion happened. The thing is, they are investigating the period from 2018 to 2023. We are talking about billions of dollars in potential fines. Those too.

One side comment—the investigation actually started because a group of builders in Coimbatore got tired of seeing steel prices jump 55% in just six months and took it to court. It’s an ongoing situation where a local complaint just blew the doors off a national industry. Or nothing.

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End…

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