Jindal Steel Extends Drop as Panel Scraps Coal Project Approval

Jindal Steel & Power Ltd. (JSP), India’s biggest steel producer by market value, fell to its lowest price in more than three months after a court-appointed panel scrapped the approval for its coal mining project.

The shares fell for the second day, declining 4.3 percent to 484.55 rupees, the lowest level since Jan. 9, at the close in Mumbai. The stock has risen 7 percent this year, compared with an 11 percent gain in the benchmark Sensitive Index.

The National Green Tribunal, set up in October 2010 to hear cases relating to environmental protection and forest conservation, scrapped the project on April 20 and asked the Ministry of Environment and Forests to repeat public hearings. The tribunal said the environment ministry ignored the mandatory procedures while granting the license to Jindal Steel.

The company plans to develop a 4 million metric ton coal mine and a washery of similar size in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh. Jindal Steel is seeking to build coal mines to feed its proposed power plants in the country.

Sushil Maroo, the group chief financial officer at Jindal Steel, didn’t respond to two calls made to his mobile phone.

The tribunal on March 30 suspended environment approval given to Posco’s proposed $12 billion steel plant in Orissa state. It said the environment ministry should reassess the conditions on which clearance was granted to the project last year, Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan said that day.