Hindalco Industries gains 5% as co wins bid for Jharkhand’s Chakla coal block

MUMBAI: Shares of Hindalco Industries Ltd gained 5% on Tuesday after the company won bids for the Chakla coal block in Jharkhand.

Hindalco Industries Ltd stock closed at ₹179.25, up 5% from its previous close, while the benchmark index, Sensex settled 1.3% higher at 40,261.

The auctions for the coal block were conducted in two stages, the first of which was the submission of a technical bid, evaluated by the coal ministry. The bidders who qualified then submitted financial bids in which they detailed what percentage of revenue would be paid to the government. The announcement was made after market hours. Vedanta won the Radhikapur West coal block in Odisha.

Yesterday was the first day of auctions for coal mines for commercial mining with a total geological reserve of 572.18 million tonnes. This followed a decision taken by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs in May to award coal and lignite blocks on a revenue-sharing basis.

There will be no restriction on the sale and utilization of coal from these mines. Earlier, blocks were awarded on a fixed payment per tonne basis and the government believes that this was impeding the use of the resource.