In a move to decide the fate of coal blocks that were de-allocated by Supreme Court recently, the government on Monday proposed an ordinance to allow e-auction of mines to private players while adding that state-run companies would be allocated mines directly.
According to Uppal, a timely re-allocation of coal blocks will ensure continuity. He expects coal supply to power plants to continue if auction starts in 3 months, however Uppal feels it is still too early to predict aggressive bidding. He is confident that the company would be allowed to participate in auction.
Shares of JSPL tanked 14 percent, hitting nearly 6-year low at Rs 128 per share intraday on Monday after the CBI registered a fresh case of alleged cheating and corruption against the company, in connection with its probe into coal blocks allocation probe. However, the stock recovered some losses on Tuesday morning and was trading up around 6 percent.
Uppal said the company respects government's decision and will proceed with the auctioning process however, they do not agree with CEC's recommendations to the SC.
According to Uppal, there are factual mistakes in the report with reference to Sharda mines and that the company will be filing a review petition.
Below is the transcript of Ravi Uppal's interview with Latha Venkatesh & Sonia Shenoy on CNBC-TV18.
Latha: What is your sense? Will the bidding be aggressive when the e-auction starts?
A: The government has fixed a timeframe of doing auction within next three-four months. I hope that it happens as early as possible because right now the mines which are deallocated. They have said that they can continue operation up to the end of March. If they can do the auction process on time, by the end of January, I think it will ensure to continue the supply of coal to the power plant.
Latha: You are expecting – largely if they stick to their sked – no disruption at all in your mining or your steel making process but do you expect aggressive bidding or do you think that people will leave alone coal mines that are attached to certain projects because it would be fruitless for them to reinvest in infrastructure? Do you expect aggressive bidding?
A: It is too early to say anything because the government of course has said that they are going to make them into three groups - power, steel and cement. So the ones who is going to pitch in for steel should be in steel business. It remains to be seen as seen how many people participate in the process. It is too early to say about that.
Sonia: Will JSPL be allowed to participate in the auction because we understand that companies who are convicted in the ongoing CBI enquiry will not be allowed but since the case is going on, can you say with any certainty whether JSPL will be allowed in the auction process?
A: Of course we will be allowed to participate. The government has made it very clear that only those companies which are convicted they would be, though we haven't done any such thing, there is no reason. We are a major player within the steel and power space and it's very important from the government point of view also that a company like JSPL which has contributed so much to the growth of power and steel industry, allowed participating and continuing the operation. Please remember that we are employing nearly 35,000-40,000 people in the mines as well as the backup units.
Sonia: The cabinet has also said that there will be not right of first refusal. Will that be a deterrent for you in the process?
A: I wish they agreed to the right of first refusal for the mines which are already operational. There is definitely more continuity for people whose mines are operating but if they have taken a decision then we respect the government's decision and will take it as it comes.
Latha: Are there any coal, steel or power companies in the vicinity of your coal blocks that you should expect competition?
A: Nothing in the immediate vicinity but of course you have steel and power plant at a distance of between 100 km and 300 km whereas our plant right at the pitheads.
Latha: The other thing that we had asked you last time but it was too close to the earlier decisions of deallocation. How much have you mined from the date you got the mines and therefore what is your penalty?
A: The government has allowed us to continue the mining of the coal up to the end of March and let's hope that the process is completed by that time but if it doesn't then I am sure the government will consider extending the date for the expiry of the mining operation.
Sonia: Is there any clarity on whether you will be compensated for the mines?
A: That is what the government is saying that they are going to bring the ordinance for acquisition of the land and the assets. Its not just to us, it applies to everybody. So, it remains to be seen as on what basis the compensators for the land which is under our ownership at the moment.
Latha: Only about Sarda Mines the CEC has made some strong recommendations including suspension of Sarda's mining operations. Will that affect you? I thought you get about 70 percent of your coal from them?
A: It remains to be seen that the CEC has made some observations. We do not agree with that. There is lot of information in the report that we have strong views on. We do not think they are factually right but it remains to be seen how the Supreme Court takes a view on it and I am sure that we will be given a chance to present our viewpoint on every point that they have mentioned. We are confident that the mining will continue in these mines and we should be able to source the material from there.
Latha: Do you have any unanswered questions after yesterday's press conference. We still do not know the text of the ordinance. So, any questions on land and how will you be compensated for or will that land get taken away, any operational issues?
A: The government has asked us to intimate them where we have our facilities. We are in the process of intimating them on that. The process is still not fully defined. They have asked us for an information ad we are giving them full cooperation, we are giving them all the information that they need.
Sonia: With a slightly longer term view – what is the sense you are getting about the way forward because this ordinance stop short of denationalising coal but do you get a sense that this is just a precursor to the government now allowing commercial coal mining in future?
A: I do not think it is going to be denationalising. I think what government want is that they want both the public sector as well as private sector to participate in the mining process. They want the output of the coal and the other minerals to be increased and that's the step in the right direction. So far the country has been focusing on management of shortages. It's high time that we should do so much production that we should create a surplus and the coal should become a non-issue in future.
Latha: You suspect that your debt will go up as you have to pay in the e-auction as well as the penalty approximately what might it be because as it is it is onerous, isn't it. Rs 35,000 crore to 40,000 crore you already have as consolidated debt?
A: All these issues are being pursued by us. We have taken up the matter; we are going to file a writ petition. We do not believe that we would be liable to pay the kind of levies being suggested and when it comes to the bidding for the new mines, I am hoping that the government would be very realistic in the matter of fixing the floor price for and the environment clearance and all these things must come along with the decision to allocate the mines after the auction.
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
Confident of being allowed to participate in auction: JSPL
Dengan url
https://kesehatanda.blogspot.com/2014/10/confident-of-being-allowed-to.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
Confident of being allowed to participate in auction: JSPL
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
Confident of being allowed to participate in auction: JSPL
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar