Hindalco top Sensex loser, stock falls over 4%

Hindalco Industries slipped by over 4% on the bourses today after the Environment Ministry withheld clearance for the Mahan coal block in Madhya Pradesh, which is intended to fuel power plants of the aluminium producer, and referred the matter to a Group of Ministers.

Shares of Hindalco, which was the worst performer among the 30-share Sensex pack, fell by 4.69% to touch an early low of Rs 179.55 on the BSE.

Similarly, on the NSE, the stock lost 4.97% to hit an early low of Rs 178.75.

On the volume front, over 31 lakh shares of the company changed hands on the bourses in morning trade.

The Environment Ministry late last week withheld clearance for the Mahan coal block in Madhya Pradesh, which is intended to fuel the power plants of Hindalco and referred the matter to a Group of Ministers (GoM).

The block, located in Singrauli district, was jointly allocated to Essar and Hindalco for their thermal power plant. If the block is cleared, it will provide coal to Essar Power's 1,200-MW plant and Hindalco's 650-MW facility in Madhya Pradesh.

Meanwhile, the BSE benchmark index Sensex was trading 67.53 points down at 18,790.51 at 1055 hours.