new delhi tata steel on thursday reported a consolidated net loss of rs 212723 crore for the quarter ended december 31 2015 hit by subdued demand in india as well as higher regulatory costs and a strong british pound the mumbaibased company had a net profit of rs 15711 crore in the yearago period total consolidated income of the steel maker declined by 17 per cent to rs 28039 crore in the octoberdecember quarter of this fiscal from rs 33633 crore during the same quarter in 201415 tata steel said in a bse filing its total expenses more than doubled to rs 122490 crore from rs 578 crore during the quarter under review steel deliveries of the company rose marginally to 637 million tonnes mt in the december quarter in 201516 from 629 mt during the same quarter in 201415 indian steel demand remained subdued post monsoon quarter due to sluggish uptick across key steel consuming sectors like construction general engineering and infrastructure tata steel said rural demand also remained muted oversupply in global steel markets coupled with relative stability of indian rupee versus dollar as compared to other and currencies has made india a favoured import destination it added on its european operations the firm said surging imports into europe exerted further pressure on margins in the last quarter the unprecedented market conditions made worse by the uks regulatory costs and strong pound led to announcements to reduce jobs and mothball assets in the uk part of an ongoing transformation programme tata steels managing director india and south east asia tv narendran said steel markets in india have been affected by depressed international steel prices and predatory imports tepid demand among steel consuming sectors has further exacerbated the problem to realign tata steel with new market realities the firm is sharpening focus on effective management of costs it will also continue to invest in its marketing franchise and in increasing the share of value added products he added tata steel in europe ceo and managing director karl ulrich kohler said this perfect storm imports caused the deterioration of our financial performance in the last quarter and led to us announcing restructuring in the uk where our operations also face higher regulatory costs growing european steel demand continues to be undermined by a flood of imports chinese steel shipments into europe leapt over 50 per cent last year while imports from russia and south korea jumped 25 per cent and 30 per cent respectively he added