Hindalco bags Kathautia mine.

Birla Group's Hindalco, whose mines were among those cancelled by the Supreme Court last year, finally has something to cheer about, though at a massive cost.

On the second day of the e-auction, Hindalco won the Kathautia coal block in Jharkhand for Rs. 2,860 a tonne. This means, the company would pay Rs. 228 crore a year and Rs 6,800 crore for the life of the block, which is 30 years. The revenue earned would go to the Jharkhand state exchequer.

This comes a day after Hindalco lost its Talabira-I block to GMR.

The block is for end-use in the unregulated sector - iron, steel, cement and captive power generation - and had formerly belonged to Usha Martin.

The reserve price for the power sector blocks is Rs. 100 a tonne and the floor price for the unregulated sector is Rs 150 a tonne.

BS