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Coal block probe to include United Front, NDA regimes

The government has widened the scope of the Central Bureau of Investigation probe into captive coal block allotment by including all allocations made between 1993 and 2009.

The government has widened the scope of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into captive coal block allotment by including all allocations made between 1993 and 2009. This means that a total of 195 allocations will be probed by the agency against 64 currently under investigation and these include allocations made since the PV Narasimha Rao government and including the United Front and NDA governments, besides UPA-I and UPA-II.

According to sources, acting on the coal ministry’s advice, the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) on Monday referred all these allocations to the CBI for probe. This is seen as a strategic move by the ruling coalition to shift blame to non-Congress governments also for the alleged irregularities in the allocation of blocks.

Earlier, acting on a complaint by BJP MP Hansraj Ahir, the CVC had recommended the allocations made between 2006 and 2009 to the CBI.

Out of these 195 coal blocks referred by the CVC to the CBI, around 40 coal blocks were allocated during the BJP-led NDA government between 1999 and 2004. Companies such as Jindal Steel and Power, Bhushan Power and Steel, GVK Power and Usha Martin got coal blocks during the NDA regime.

?After receiving a letter from the coal ministry, the CVC has referred the allocation of 195 captive coal blocks made since 1993 to the CBI. The CBI will be probing irregularities in coal block allocations,? a coal ministry official said.

?There have been allegations that no transparent method was followed in allocating captive coal blocks and favours were given to private firms. The CBI, already probing 142 companies that were allocated coal blocks, will now be probing all companies which have been allocated coal blocks since 1993,? the officer added.

Against the backdrop of the Comptroller and Auditor General report that said that private companies made windfall gains of Rs 1.86 lakh crore through allocation of captive mines between 2004 and 2009, the inter-ministerial group (IMG) headed by a coal ministry official and with members from the finance, law and power ministries is reviewing the delay in development of coal blocks allocated to private firms. The IMG has already recommended de-allocation of 13 blocks and has sought deduction of bank guarantees in the case of 14 others.

The CBI in its probe has already booked seven private firms and their directors for misrepresenting facts and fudging balance sheets to get coal blocks.

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First published on: 25-09-2012 at 02:17 IST
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