Simultaneous e-auctions for other mining sites were going on and there was technical glitch: SC

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed the Jindal Steel & Power Ltd’s (JSPL) appeal seeking a direction to the coal ministry to refrain from taking further steps for development of the Chhendipada coal mine in Odisha.

Rungta Sons, which had emerged as the highest bidder in an e-auction of commercial coal mines on February 28, was granted the Odisha coal block.

Having lost the Chhendipada (revised) coal block to Rungta Sons, a subsidiary of Jharkhand-based Rungta Mines, JSPL alleged that it was wrongly and unfairly prevented from submitting its next higher bid due to glitches on the MSTC portal.

A bench led by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud upheld the Delhi High Court’s July 25 decision that rejected JSPL’s petition for quashing of the grant of the Odisha coal block to Rungta Sons.

Counsel Gauri Rasgotra, appearing for JSPL, claimed that technical glitches on the MSTC portal during the e-auction on February 27 had prevented it from submitting a higher bid for the mine that has 513 million tonnes of geological reserves.

She said that “JSPL had offered a premium of 20% of the revenue share as opposed to 13% closing bid for the coal mine to maximise revenue.”

The company, one of the three technically qualified bidders for the coal mine, said it “was actively placing bids during e-auction for the coal mine” and “left no stone unturned,” but its higher bid placed on the portal was not accepted on account of a technical glitch on the portal.

It added that it had immediately brought the issue to the notice of SBI Capital Markets, which was advising the coal ministry in the auction process. “The premature completion of the auction process at a much lower bid premium resulted in an unfair auction process,” Rasgotra contended.