In a setback to Jindal Steel and Power (JSPL), the Delhi High Court has upheld the decision of the government to cancel Jindal Power's bid for the Gare Palma and Tara blocks.
Specifically talking about Ramchandi coal block, the MD & CEO of Jindal Steel & Power (JSPL), Ravi Uppal said that the coal block was never used by the company. However, the project related to that was cancelled post deallocation of the block.
Delhi High Court on Friday directed Coal India Ltd (CIL) to dispose of the coal it was mining from two Chhattisgarhmines through a fresh e-auction in which Jindal Power Ltd (JPL) was permitted to participate.
The company‘s primary contention is that despite the cancellation there has been no reasonable rationale offered by the government.
Shares of Jindal Steel & Power plunged 15 percent in early trade Monday after the government rejected three successful bids in the recently-concluded coal block auctions.
The ministry had examined nine blocks whose surprise low bids prompted the designation "outliers". But bids for five of those mines were accepted, Coal Secretary Anil Swarup said in a tweet message early on Saturday.
The market managed to recoup some of its losses on Tuesday with the Sensex scoring a 1 percent on short covering and ahead of beginning of two-day Federal Reserve meeting. However, the index shed 493 points in previous two sessions.
The central government will be taking the final decision on whether to re-auction these three coal mines or not based on the report submitted by the committee.
Last week was a rollercoaster ride for Jindal Steel & Power at the coal auctions. The company successfully retained the richest mine for the lowest price but also missed out on one block.
The government was successful in selling all the 19 mines in the first lot of auction which began on February 14. Hindalco has bagged the maximum number of mines in the first phase of auction, winning three that includes two in Chhattisgarh and one in Jharkhand.
The policy of captive mining needs to end. The purpose of policy should be to open up energy markets, not close them down by giving consumers monopoly consumption rights in the form of captive mining leases.
Amid mounting concerns over whether power companies were spreading themselves too thin while bidding for blocks in the ongoing coal auction, a subsidiary of Jindal Steel and Power pulled off a sizzling win by bagging rights to explore Gare Palma IV/2 and 3 mines in Chattisgarh at a cost of a mere Rs 108 per metric tonne.
Jindal Steel and Power Limited today won the Gare Palma IV/2&3 coal mine at Rs 108 per tonne each.
Essar Power has won the Tokisud North coal block in Jharkand for Rs 1,110 per tonne. This is a record for blocks awarded to the regulated power sector.
In a reprieve to JSPL, the Delhi High Court on Wednesday overruled the government‘s decision to reserve the Gare Palma IV/6 and Utkal B blocks for the power sector.
Stating the Delhi High Court‘s ruling to remove two coal blocks from ongoing coal auction will not impact it, Coal Secretary Anil Swarup today said that while the government was fully prepared to contest such cases, it had not yet taken decided whether to move the Supreme Court to contest the decision.
Delhi HC made these observations while hearing Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) and its promoter Naveen Jindal‘s petition challenging the change of end-use of two coal blocks in Odisha and Chhattisgarh, which were earlier allocated to it.
Gare Palma 2 & 3 has a capacity of 6.25 MTPA in Chattisgarh. The coal block was earlier allocated to Jindal Steel and Power.
While quashing allocation of 214 out of 218 coal blocks alloted since 1993, the apex court had in September last year also directed allottees to pay an additional levy of Rs 295 a tonne of coal extracted to compensate financial loss caused to the exchequer by the "illegal and arbitrary" allotments.
Murtuza Arsiwalla, Senior Analyst at Kotak Institutional Equities has reduced rating on Jindal Steel & Power with a target price of Rs 160.