Investors seem to have shrugged off reports of the Central Bureau of Investigation naming Aditya Birla Group Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla in a fresh chargesheet relating to the coal scam.
Shares of none of the Aditya Birla Group stocks showed signs of any panic selling this morning.
In fact, Group company Idea Cellular’s shares hit a new 52-week high today.
According to news reports, the CBI is stated to have named Kumar Mangalam Birla and former Coal Secretary P.C. Parekh in its 14th FIR in the coal scam.
It was reported that the sleuths of the investigation agency were also conducting searches in Delhi, Kolkata, Bhubaneswar and Mumbai relating to the scam.
But there was little sign of any investor nervousness after the news broke out this morning and the shares of the Aditya Birla Group companies did not show any sign of panicky investors trying to exit the counters, though there was heightened trading in some stocks, with the share prices relatively holding firm in the context of BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty shedding some value.
Hindalco Industries was trading at Rs 109.30, a loss of Rs 1.30. The stock witnessed a huge volume of 1.01 crore shares just before noon. The scrip touched a low of Rs 105 and a high of Rs 109.85.
Grasim Industries stock shed Rs 38 to trade at Rs 2,699.20 with 65,000 shares changing hands. This stock had a high of Rs 2,769.10 and a low of Rs 2,670 in the NSE.
Aditya Birla Nuvo also was down by Rs 48.25 at Rs 1,217, a loss of Rs 48.25 with a trading volume of about 1,31,000 shares. UltraTech Cement shed Rs 21.90 to trade at Rs 1,955.05 and the trading volume was about 69,000 shares.
But shares of Idea Cellular moved in the opposite direction in the morning, touching a new 52-week high of Rs 188.40. But it later shed some of its gains to slip to Rs 184.90, a loss of 10 paise.
According to the Group web site, the Group chaired by Kumar Mangalam Birla (46), has a turnover of $40 billion operating in 36 countries across six continents with more than 50 per cent of its earnings coming from abroad.
Among the Indian companies, he chairs the boards of Hindalco, Grasim, Aditya Birla Nuvo, UltraTech, Idea, Aditya Birla Financial Services and Aditya Birla Retail.
The group's presence straddles across several vital sectors of the economy like aluminium, copper, cement, textiles, natural resources, power, agribusiness, telecommunications, financial services, IT/ITeS, retail and trading. The A.B. Group companies employ over 136,000 persons operating in 36 countries.