India Court Scraps Coal Mine Permits

India’s top court today cancelled 98 percent of coal mine permits given to companies in the 20 years.

According to Bloomberg:

Companies including Jindal Steel & Power Ltd. (JSP)and Hindalco Industries Ltd. (HNDL) will need to either regain their mines in auctions or buy replacement supplies from the market, raising output costs. India expects the so-called captive coal blocks to produce about 50 million metric tons of the fuel in the year to March 31, about 9 percent of the nation’s total output.

Rana Kapoor, chief executive officer at Yes Bank Lt and president of Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India said:

Our main concern is on the kind of impact on the economy, which has just been showing signs of recovery after over two years of slowdown. It is coal that fires economic growth, which will be halted, besides the dependence on imports will increase.

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