Abhay Lodha-promoted Topworth Group won both the mines on offer on the first day of the third tranche of coal auctions.

In the process, the Topworth Group beat Naveen Jindal’s Jindal Steel and Power Ltd as the latter remains winless in the coal mine auctions.

The two blocks on offer to kick off the third tranche of auctions were Marki Mangli I in Maharashtra and Bhaskarpara in Chhattisgarh with JSPL being the only big name in the fray.

JSPL’s shares gained over 5 per cent in intraday trading to hit an intraday high of ₹87.15 when the auctions began at 11a.m.

However, it closed the day 0.61 per cent lower than the previous day’s close at ₹81.55.

Topworth Group’s flagship company Topworth Urja & Metals Ltd started the day as the first winner in the third tranche of coal mine auctions winning Marki Mangli I at a price of ₹715 a tonne. The mine has extractable reserves of 9.96 million tonne and was being sought by Grace Industries and Lloyds Metal and Energy.

Bhaskarpara which has 24.06 million tonne of extractable reserves was won by a subsidiary of the Topworth Group – Crest Steel and Power Ltd.

The company’s winning bid of ₹755 a tonne beat JSPL and Godawari Natural Resources.

The auctions resume on Wednesday with Chitarpur in Jharkhand going under the hammer. The mine has 61.555 million tonne of extractable reserves.

JSPL will have another crack at winning a coal mine as it is technically qualified to bid for the Chitarpur block.

However, it will have to fend of bids from Aditya Birla Group’s Hindalco Ltd and Anil Agarwal’s Vedanta Ltd.

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