Coal news and updates

Captive coal miners’ stocks down 14.7% since ruling

September 26: The 10 listed companies which are already producing from their captive coal blocks saw their stock prices declining by an average 14.7% on the Bombay Stock Exchange following the Supreme Court judgement cancelling 214 blocks.

The top loser was Usha Martin Ltd, which operates the Kathautia block in Jharkhand, as its stock suffered a 33.08% drop since close on September 23. HINDALCO Industries, holding the Talabira-1 block in Odisha, saw the lowest drop of 0.7%.

The other producing companies listed on the BSE are Prakash Industries Ltd, Jayaswal Neco, JSPL, Sunflag Iron & Steel, Electrosteel, Sarda Energy, CESC Ltd and Monnet Ispat. The list excludes companies like Reliance, NTPC and SAIL whose blocks have been spared by the court.

The majority of the losing stocks, however, regained some ground on September 26 after suffering a substantial drop in the last couple of days.

The court, in its September 24 judgement, gave a breather of six months to block holders already producing coal ordering them to wind their operations within the stipulated period. These companies, however, would have to pay an additional levy of Rs 295 per ton of coal extracted from their blocks.