Delhi HC rejects JSPL's appeal on the coal block in Odisha

26 Jul 2023 , 10:49 AM

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday rejected Jindal Steel & Power’s appeal to invalidate the award of an Odisha coal block to Rungta Sons Pvt Ltd, which had won the e-auction for commercial coal mines on February 28.

After losing the Chhendipada (revised) coal block to Rungta Sons, a division of the Jharkhand-based Rungta Mines, JSPL filed a complaint with the HC alleging that it had been unlawfully and wrongfully prohibited from submitting its next better proposal. The request for a second auction by JSPL was denied by a division bench made up of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad.

The mine has 513 million tonnes of geological reserves, and JSPL claimed that technical difficulties on the MSTC portal during the e-auction on February 27 prohibited them from submitting a higher bid. One of the three technically qualifying bidders for the coal mine, the company stated that it ‘was actively placing bids during the coal mine’s e-auction.’

However, the authorities have ruled out any technical error.

The company argued that it was on guard since SBI Capital Markets, which was advising the coal ministry on the auction, had been informed of the technical issue right away.

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