Business Standard reported that Hindalco will have to buy coal from other sources at a very high cost for its INR 17,000 crore aluminum project in Odisha, as its Talabira mine is yet to receive Stage II clearances from the Union environment ministry. The mine is at the center of an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation for what it claims is the government’s undue benefits to Hindalco. The coal block was allocated to Neyvelli Lignite, Mahanadi Coal and Hindalco in 2005, but no work has started at the site. Neyvelli has a 70% share of the mine, while Mahanadi and Hindalco have 15% each. CBI has filed a First Information Report against Aditya Birla, group chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla and Hindalco for “influencing” the government to get the coal block allocated to the company. According to CBI, the block was first allocated only to a public sector unit in April 2005, but Hindalco received a 15% share in the mine after Birla met the then coal secretary.

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