Tata Steel rose 3.43% to Rs 402.75 at 12:06 IST on BSE on reports the Odisha government allowed the steel major to resume mining operations in four iron ore mines in the state.
Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex was down 72.23 points, or 0.27%, to 26,709.21.
On BSE, so far 7.81 lakh shares were traded in the counter, compared with an average volume of 7.36 lakh shares in the past one quarter.
The stock hit a high of Rs 404.70 and a low of Rs 388 so far during the day. The stock hit a 52-week high of Rs 578.60 on 9 June 2014. The stock hit a 52-week low of Rs 332.20 on 14 March 2014.The stock had underperformed the market over the past one month till 16 December 2014, falling 18.72% compared with 4.51% fall in the Sensex. The scrip had also underperformed the market in past one quarter, falling 20.54% as against Sensex's 1.09% rise.
The large-cap company has an equity capital of Rs 971.21 crore. Face value per share is Rs 10.
According to reports, the government allowed mining in four mines [Bamberi, Katamati, Joda (West & East) mines] till 28 January 2015 as per an interim order of the Orissa High Court.
Earlier, the state government had ordered Tata Steel to stop operations at these four mines after the steel major failed to meet the 15 November 2014 deadline for forest and environment clearances. The suspension of these four mines had reportedly affected Tata Steel's operations, prompting the steel major to bank on imports of iron ore.
Tata Steel moved the high court and argued that its mines should not be shut as they were captive ones and suspension of work will lead to unemployment of a large number of workers, mostly tribals, reports suggested.
Tata Steel's six iron ore mines were among the 26 mines which were asked to suspend mining operations in view of a Supreme Court order on 16 May 2014. In the interim order, the apex court had called for suspending operations of 26 iron ore and manganese mines in Odisha that were operating under the provisions of deemed extension. The Supreme Court had held that such mines could not continue operations until the Odisha government passed express orders under relevant laws.
Reports suggest that Odisha mines of Tata Steel account for 70-75% of its total ore production. The steel maker reportedly produced about 18 million tonne iron ore in the fiscal year ended March 2014 (FY 2014) and produced about 13 million tonne iron in FY 2014 from Odisha.
On a consolidated basis, Tata Steel's net profit rose 36.82% to Rs 1254.33 crore on 2.4% fall in net sales to Rs 35503.25 crore in Q2 September 2014 over Q2 September 2013.
Tata Steel Group is among the top-ten global steel companies with an annual crude steel capacity of nearly 30 million tonnes per annum.
Source: http://www.business-standard.com/