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Business News/ Politics / Policy/  HC allows some firms to bid in coal auction
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HC allows some firms to bid in coal auction

Sesa Sterlite, Usha Martin, Sarda Energy and Minerals, Utkal Coal, Monnet Ispat and Energy and Jayaswal Neco Industries get the nod to take part in auctions

The auction has been necessitated by the Supreme Court in September cancelling the allocation of more than 200 mines allotted between 1993 and 2010. Photo: HTPremium
The auction has been necessitated by the Supreme Court in September cancelling the allocation of more than 200 mines allotted between 1993 and 2010. Photo: HT

New Delhi: Several prior allottees of coal mines were allowed by the Delhi high court on Friday to participate in the upcoming auction, having earlier been barred from taking part in the bidding on technical grounds.

“We’re trying our level best to save the auction," a bench of justices B.D. Ahmed and Sanjeev Sachdeva said, hearing the case well after regular court hours.

The auction has been necessitated by the Supreme Court in September cancelling the allocation of more than 200 mines allotted between 1993 and 2010.

The companies that had challenged different aspects of the auction and the bidding process were Sesa Sterlite Ltd, Usha Martin Ltd, Sarda Energy and Minerals Ltd, Utkal Coal, Monnet Ispat and Energy Ltd and Jayaswal Neco Industries Ltd. On Friday, the Delhi high court gave them the go-ahead to take part in the auction.

Sesa Sterlite had challenged its technical disqualification, claiming the technical panel of the government failed to consider its auction documents. It was the government’s contention that Sesa Sterlite had not bid for a captive end-use power plant.

The court arrived at the conclusion that its specified end-use plant for the Gare Palma-IV/7 block was a 9x135 megawatts captive power plant. It ordered that the company’s bid be considered by the government.

Usha Martin and Sarda Energy had been disqualified for including the coal requirement of their wholly-owned units within their bids. The government contended this allowed them to bid for much bigger mines reserved for companies with higher capacities. The court ruled “subsidiaries that are not joint ventures cannot be considered for calculating the coal requirement of the bidder". The parent firm, in this case Usha Martin and Sarda Energy, will thus be allowed to participate if independently eligible. The court asked that their bids be considered in this background.

Utkal Coal had been disqualified from bidding in the auction. However, asking the government to respond in its plea before the high court, the company was allowed to bid in the auction.

Monnet Ispat’s case was different. While it had qualified on technical grounds, it challenged the government’s move to allow multiple bids by same firms. The court will hear Monnet’s plea on 18 February.

The court on 18 February will also consider Jayaswal Neco’s plea for being allowed to bid in the auction.

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Published: 14 Feb 2015, 01:01 AM IST
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