The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) clarified that the observations made in the ‘leaked’ draft regarding the allotment of coal blocks are highly misleading since the discussions were at a very preliminary stage. In fact CAG is not even of the opinion that the allotment would have necessarily meant an equal loss to the exchequer.
There was a huge uproar in the Parliament over a draft report by the CAG which accused the government of allotting coal blocks without auctioning, which it claimed had led to ‘undue benefits’ to commercial entities, totaling a mind-boggling Rs 10.67 lakh crore.
Later the Finance Minister clarified that the ‘report’ was actually a ‘draft report’ and the findings were not conclusive. The Prime Minister too has stated that since the report was just a draft, there was no need for him to clarify anything in the Parliament.
The coal minister, Sriprakash Jaiswal, however has clarified that the government is almost ready to auction coal blocks through competitive bidding and the guidelines for this are likely in 2-4 months. Coal India subsidiary CMPDI has been assigned the task for hiring a consultant to come out with a methodology of fixing the reserve price of blocks and finalizing the bid document, and assist in bidding process.
The government which will be facing general elections in 2014 is now trying hard to salvage the situation. The opposition is missing no opportunity to take advantage of the situation and has called it the ‘mother of all scams’.
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