New Delhi: Jindal Steel and Power Ltd, Hindalco and other companies whose coal mine allocations were scrapped by the Supreme Court on Wednesday are likely to pay about Rs 7,905 crore in penalty.
The Supreme Court while cancelling 214 of 218 coal mine permits given to companies for their own use since 1993 also agreed to the government's proposal to impose a fee of Rs 295 a tonne on coal produced from the captive mines which were allowed to operate until March 31.
The penalty will total to about Rs 7,905 crore, industry sources said. Industry officials said the investment climate will be hit "if wealth creators are treated in this manner in the country" while no action whatsoever was taken against the policy makers.
"We trusted sovereign promises and ventured ahead and invested huge over Rs 2 lakh crore. Nothing was given to us free of cost. NoC was taken from Coal India and we were given the worst mines which were inaccessible. We were coerced to expedite our plants linked with these and one fine day all assets created are demolished like a pack of cards. This is not fair," a top official of an affected company, who did not wish to be quoted, said.
A top level executive of another affected company, on condition of anonymity, said, "How would you feel if you put all your hard-earned money in obtaining a DDA flat and after five years you are told that the process was wrong and you find yourself on street."
"Why did the government convene quarterly meetings in the name of inter-ministeral groups to review the development process of blocks, forced us to expedite work on end-use plants where we invested thousands of crores or money. Who is now going to believe them?" asked an official of another company.
Another official said the Rs 295-a-tonne penalty was imposed based on CAG's notional loss estimate of Rs 1.86 lakh crore on account of allocation of mines without auction but no one took into consideration that UG mines are considered loss-making.
"We built the roads, developed tough underground mines in the manner in which even Coal India is unable to do. We did not sell even a tonne of coal. We are paying royalty," another industry official said.
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