MUMBAI, Sept 25: Metal stocks continued to decline for the second straight session, falling as much as 19 per cent in morning trade today, after the Supreme Court quashed allocation of 214 out of 218 coal blocks which were alloted to various firms since 1993.
Shares of Usha Martin declined 18.8 per cent to Rs 24.40, while Prakash Industries tanked 18.67 per cent to Rs 49.65 on the BSE.
Monnet Ispat tumbled 12.22 per cent, Jindal Steel & Power Ltd dipped 9.98 per cent, Hindalco Industries (6.23 per cent) and Tata Steel (3 per cent).
In a major blow to the corporate sector, the Supreme Court yesterday quashed allocation of 214 out of 218 coal blocks which were alloted to various companies since 1993 and in which it was claimed that around Rs 2 lakh crore were invested.
A bench, headed by Chief Justice R M Lodha, saved only four blocks – belonging to NTPC and SAIL one each and two allocated to Ultra Mega Power Projects – from being cancelled.
The bench, also comprising justices Madan B Lokur and Kurian Joseph, granted six months breathing time to mining companies to wind up their operations.
The apex court had on August 25 held that all coal blocks allocation since 1993 by various regimes at the Centre have been made illegally and arbitrarily. (PTI)
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