The government today said that the presumptive loss shown by CAG is flawed as the coal has not been actually mined. In a joint press conference of Group of Minister on Media in New Delhi, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said that loss can arise only if the coal is taken out and sold at some price.

Making a fervent appeal to the Opposition to allow Parliament to function, Mr Chidambaram alleged that BJP is unwilling to allow Parliament to function or discuss any issue. He said that Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh is ready to make a statement on coal block allocation in Parliament in the context of CAG report. He expressed hope that the Prime Minister will be allowed to make a statement in Parliament on Monday, if not, the government will find way to reach out to the people.

Mr. Chidambaram refuted the allegation of opposition, that views of State governments are overruled by the centre. Citing the example of National Counter Terrorism Centre, NCTC, he said that views of all States have been taken on board and government honours the federal system of the country. In 2005, government after government in states had opposed auctioning of coal blocks. Mr Chidambaram said that the procedure of coal block allocation followed by UPA was the one followed earlier by NDA and other governments.

Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal said, the democratic process is being halted by conspiracy to tarnish the image of honest and sincere leadership.

Mr. Jaiswal said, UPA-I government was the first to make the process of coal blocks allocation transparent. He added that is why the proposal of allocating coal blocks through bidding was mooted. He said the government was even ready to give whole revenue to State governments earned by the bidding process. The minister said that except one, no coal block was allocated during UPA-II and informed that bidding documents for auction are being prepared and will be finalised by the end of this year.