Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today termed the observations in the CAG report on coal block allocations including the presumptive loss of one lakh 86 thousand crore rupees to private parties as clearly disputable.
In a statement in Parliament, amidst uproar by BJP members Dr. Singh said any allegations of impropriety are baseless and unsupported by facts. Dr. Singh also took full responsibility for Coal Ministry's decision while he held its charge.
He said it was the UPA-1 government which had conceived the idea of coal block allocations through competitive bidding in June, 2004. Dr. Singh said the CAG's observations, including the criticism of the policy that was followed, are disputable. The Prime Minister contended the CAG criticism of delay in introducing competitive bidding which benefited a large number of private companies .
He ruled out the financial gain of one lakh 86 thousand crore rupees to the private parties. Dr. Singh said the policy of allocation of coal blocks to private parties, which the CAG has criticised, was not introduced by the UPA. He said the policy had existed since 1993 and the previous governments had also allocated coal blocks in precisely the same way which the CAG has now criticized.
The Prime Minister said States ruled by opposition parties including West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha and Rajasthan were strongly opposed to any switch over to competitive bidding. He said the Ministry of Power had also felt that auctioning of coal blocks could lead to enhanced cost of producing energy.
The Prime Minister said the CAG's observations that benefits accrued to private companies are questionable on a number of technical grounds. He also said the private parties which were allocated captive coal blocks could not achieve their production targets partly
due to the cumbersome processes for statutory clearances.
Dr. Manmohan Singh said the government has initiated action to cancel the allocations of the allottees who did not take adequate follow-up action to start production. Dr. Singh said the CBI is also separately investigating the allegations of malpractices and action will be taken against the wrongdoers, if any.
The Prime Minister has appealed to the opposition not to stall the proceedings in both the Houses of Parliament and allow a debate on the coal blocks allocation issue. He said, let the people of the country judge where the truth lies. Talking to reporters outside Parliament, Dr Manmohan Singh assured that the government has a very strong and credible case.
He also said that the CAG observations are disputable and they will be challenged when the matter comes before the Public Accounts Committee. He regretted that Parliament was not allowed to function as the BJP was determined to disrupt the proceedings.
