Coal block auction: JSPL, Jindal Power deposit Rs 3,089 cr as additional levy

Jindal Steel and Power, along with its subsidiary Jindal Power, has deposited Rs 3,089.25 crore as additional levy to the government, as per the Supreme Court directions in coal block allocation scam. While JSPL has deposited Rs 1,989.83 crore; Jindal Power has paid Rs 1,099.41 crore, Jindal Steel and Power (JSPL) said in a BSE filing today. This will clear the way for the two firms to participate in the auctioning of coal mines. [caption id=“attachment_642338” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Naveen Jindal. AFP.[/caption] While quashing allocation of 214 out of 218 coal blocks alloted to various companies since 1993, the apex court had in September also directed allottees to pay an additional levy of Rs 295 a tonne of coal extracted to compensate financial loss caused to the exchequer by the “illegal and arbitrary” allotments. Jindal Power operates two coal blocks (Gare Palma IV/2 and IV/3) and JSPL one block (Gare Palma IV/1) in Chhattisgarh. The deadline for paying additional levy ends today. The government had earlier said that those who would fail to pay additional levy within the stipulated date would be barred from participating in the auction process. Subsequently, both JSPL and Jindal Power approached the apex court seeking time to pay penalty. The two firms also prayed that they be allowed to participate in the auction process without paying the penalty by December-end. The Supreme Court, however, rejected their pleas. The Supreme Court judgement on quashing allocations of coal blocks hit the Naveen Jindal-led firms the hard. It has also scrapped a $10 billion coal-to-liquid project at Angul in Odisha after the allotted mine for the project got cancelled. “The payment/deposit of additional levy is without prejudice to company’s legal rights and remedies but not limited to challenge the imposition and computation of the additional levy and reserves all its legal rights to challenge this computation,” JSPL said in the filing. PTI