Delhi High Court on Wednesday suggested to Coal India ltd (CIl) to sell to Jindal Power ltd (JPl) the coal it has started to mine from two Chhattisgarh mines if it did not have the space to store the mineral.
A bench of justices Badar Durrez Ahmed and Sanjeev Sachdeva gave the suggestion after CIl moved an application seeking permission to sell the coal it has started to mine from Gare Palma IV/2 and IV/3 mines after receiving environmental clearance.
It moved the application as the high court on May 27 had kept in abeyance a letter issued by CIl cancelling the e-auction in which JPl had won 49,000 metric tonnes of coal to be mined from the two mines.
CIl put before the bench three options - selling the coal by way of a fresh e-auction, selling it to those companies with whom the public sector unit has a fuel supply agreement or sale to National Thermal Power Corporation ltd (NTPC) - and asked the court which method should it go for.
The counsel for CIl told the court that the problem was that after it had received environmental clearance, it had commenced mining and now the mineral was accumulating at the site with no space to store it.
It also sought clarity on whether the court’s May 27 order would prohibit it from selling the coal it was mining.
The court, however, only suggested that CIl can sell the coal it was mining to JPl or hold a fresh e-auction in which the power company can participate and did not pass any order.
It listed the matter for further hearing on July 7.
CIl’s application was filed in the main petition of JPl which has challenged a May 16 letter by which the PSU claimed the e-auction was cancelled.
CIl had earlier told the court that it had cancelled the e-auction as it was yet to get the consent to operate the mines and, therefore, mining had not commenced.
It had also submitted that as of now it has not entered into any arrangement with NTPC to supply coal for the PSU’s Patna unit.
CIl also said that NTPC had only floated a tender for transportation of coal to its unit as and when it gets the fuel from the two mines.
Earlier, the court had termed as “absurd” CIl’s reason for cancelling the e-auction due to delay in getting consent to operate the two Chhattisgarh mines.
JPl had initially challenged the decision by way of an affidavit for quashing of a March 20 order of the government cancelling the bids of the company and Bharat Aluminium Company (Balco) for four coal blocks amid speculation of cartelisation.
Thereafter, it had filed a fresh petition on the court’s direction.
JPl had in its affidavit contended that while 49,000 MT of non-coking coal won by it was cancelled citing production issues at Gare Palma IV/2 and IV/3 mines, 2.5 lakh tonne per month of coal from same area was offered to NTPC on ‘as is where is basis’.