Tisco has been on the rise over the last five days. It has moved up steadily from Rs 136.50 to Rs Rs 161.70 (Wednesday's close), registering a gain of nearly 20 per cent. On Wednesday it was among the top gainers on BSE with a gain of 4.32 per cent.

The other notable gainer has been Sail which had reported a sharp fall in net profit for 1997-98. Sail posted a gain of 7.23 per cent on the BSE on Wednesday at Rs 12.60, with over 60 lakh shares changing hands. On the NSE the scrip went up by 8.26 per cent to close at Rs 12.45.

Other scrips in the sector saw a revival in buying interest though some of them moved up marginally. Essar Steel shot up by 5.86 percent on the NSE to Rs 23.50. On the BSE, however, it went up marginally from Rs 23.20 to Rs 23.60.

Lloyd Steel, which has been trading below par, started its recovery. It moved up by 5.79 per cent to Rs 6.40 on the BSE. Jindal Iron increased by over five per cent to Rs 55.55 from Rs 53.20.

Apart from the 8 per cent increase in special import duty the finance minister has increased the customs duty on CR coils of iron and steel from 25 per cent to 30 per cent. Besides, the import duty on stainless steel melting scrap has been reduced from 10 per cent to 5 per cent and on refractory ceramic goods from 40 per cent to 30 per cent.

The budget has also provided some benefits to the Salem steel plant. It has exempted the stainless steel coin blanks supplied by the Salem plant to the government mint. This used to attract a 15 per cent excise duty. The government has also brought down to zero the excise duty on stainless steel circles cut on job work basis from 15 per cent.