The government said on Monday there was no conflict of interest between Sterlite Group and Dalal Mott MacDonald, which was engaged by SBI Caps for valuation of residual stake in Balco.
Dalal Mott MacDonald was engaged as lender's engineers on behalf of ABN Amro Bank for Balco's expansion project at Korba in Chhattisgarh and they had no legal contract with the aluminium company, mines minister Sis Ram Ola said in a written reply in Rajya Sabha.
Replying to the question raised by CPI-M member Brinda Karat, he said Dalal Mott MacDonald was engaged by SBI Caps only for technology evaluation and fixed asset evaluation of Balco.
The government had appointed SBI Caps to value its 49 per cent stake in Balco in December last year after the Sterlite Group, which owns 51 per cent in the company, exercised its option to buy the remaining stake.
Last week, CPI-M MP Chhitabrata Mazumdar had written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seeking scrapping of the Balco disinvestment process.
He had said SBI Caps had got the work done through Dalal Mott Macdonald, saying it has a conflict of interest vis-a-vis Sterlite.
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