The government has dismissed the Controller and Auditor General, CAG report estimating 1.86 lakh crore rupees gain to private firms in allocation of coal blocks as misplaced. Addressing a Press Conference in New Delhi today Union Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal said the policy followed was transparent and not faulty.Mr Jaiswal said his ministry was not in agreement with all aspects of the CAG report, adding the assessment done by the auditor was based on only a few aspects of coal allocation. The Minister said that the assessment of loss is misplaced as only one of the 57 blocks mentioned in the report, is operational. He said most blocks could not be operationalised due to administrative hurdles.

The Minister informed that the allocation of coal blocks through competitive bidding will begin in next one to three months. He said that during the consultations with the state governments, Chhattisgargh, West Bengal and Rajasthan did not agree with the proposed changes.

CAG in its report said part of the 1.86 lakh crore rupees loss could have been partially accrued to the national exchequer had the procedure been put in place earlier.

The minister said the private parties were involved in the development of coal blocks as the state-run firm Coal
India was not able to meet the growing fuel needs of the country.