.jpg)
An advocate on Thursday moved the Supreme Court seeking directions to the Central Bureau of Investigation to name Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in its FIR filed against industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla and former Coal Secretary P C Parakh in a coal block allocation case.
The Central Bureau of Investigation has alleged that some companies which were allotted coal blocks between 2006 and 2009 had "misrepresented" facts and made "fraudulent" claims to "embellish" their applications to get the allotments.
The government on Friday asked three firms, Tenughat Vidyut Nigam, Andhra Pradesh Power Generation Corp and Jharkhand State Mineral Development Corp, to begin production from coal blocks allocated to them for captive use without further delay.
Rising energy demand could tilt India's energy basket towards fossil fuels from coal to oil, natural gas.
In a bid to break the monopoly of public sector coal companies, the government is planning to permit private coal mining companies to sell the commodity, thus overcoming the need for legislative changes.
As it wants to put a sizeable number of shares in the market and also offer them to employees and farmers displaced by its mines.
The government will now auction 23 mines, instead of 24
Special court was that Manmohan Singh took the "ultimate decision" as the then coal minister in allocation of the blocks.
Koda, Basu and two accused public servants conspired to favour VISUL in the coal block allocation, the agency alleged.
Coal India employees, who were barred by their unions from buying shares during the mega-IPO last year, may after all get another opportunity.
A change in recommendation in favour of Birla did certainly happen but the question is whether it was a bona fide decision. Jyoti Mukul reports
Central Bureau of Investigation Director Ranjit Sinha on Monday admitted before the Supreme Court that certain changes were made in the coalgate draft report on suggestions given by Union Law Minister Ashwani Kumar, Attorney General G E Vanahvati and the officials of PMO and Coal Ministry.
To ensure smooth allocation of 204 cancelled coal blocks, the government has set up a high-level inter-ministerial panel that would provide advise on policy issues and interact with the industry.
The government has received 745 applications from a variety of companies for 15 power-project-linked coal blocks with estimated reserves of 3.6 billion tonnes, which can support power generation of 18,000 Mw.
Companies say the viability of 13,000 megawatts worth of projects, which have fixed power sale tariffs, hinge on the government decision.
.jpg)
RPG Industries, Hindalco, SAIL, Jindal Steel, Monnet Ispat, GVK Power and Jaiprakash Associates among companies summoned for review.
Asserting that there is nothing wrong in allocation of coal blocks, former Union Coal Secretary Prakash Chandra Parakh on Wednesday said if the Central Bureau of Investigation considers a conspiracy in this case then Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh should be held equally responsible being the final decision maker.
Questioning the Bharatiya Janata Party's stand, former telecom minister Arun Shourie on Saturday said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should be allowed to make a statement on coal blocks allocation controversy and said the opposition did not gain much by stalling the Parliament over the issue.
The court issued notice to the ministry and directed it to file its response in two days.
Coal ministry officials along with senior officials from Coal India and department of disinvestment would meet with capital market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India this month to take forward the process of listing the public sector unit.
The Central Bureau of Investigation has questioned T K A Nair, advisor to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in connection with alleged irregularities in allocation of coal blocks, which included granting of a block to Hindalco at Talabira despite it being rejected by a screening committee of the coal ministry.
Union Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal on Saturday admitted that some files related to the coal block allocation scam are missing.
There is good news for coal mine developers who want to go in for expansion. The Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), in its new notification, said the developers that had already bagged environment clearance for their existing projects might be exempted from the stipulated public hearings for obtaining clearances for their expansion projects, provided they met certain criteria specified by the ministry.
As of now, only Indian power, steel and cement companies can mine coal for their own consumption.
If the PM had just chosen to behave as if there wasn't anything wrong about existing systems, he wouldn't have been in such trouble today, says Mihir S Sharma
The CBI on Friday told a special court that former coal secretary H C Gupta had allegedly concealed facts from then prime minister Manmohan Singh.
Setting off a political bombshell, Central Bureau of Investigation Director Ranjit Sinha on Friday submitted before the Supreme Court that the agency's status report on coal allocation scam was "shared" with Law Minister Ashwani Kumar "as desired by him" and that senior officials of PMO and Coal ministry had also seen it.
The government on Thursday said it has cancelled the auction of Tamil Nadu's Nayakkarpatti tungsten mineral block which is near the Arittapatti Biodiversity site and a number of cultural heritage sites. Tungsten is a critical and strategic mineral.
A Delhi court on Monday awarded three-year jail term to former coal secretary H C Gupta in a coal scam case related to irregularities in the allocation of a coal block in Maharashtra, a lawyer associated with the case said.
Besides the jail term, the special court also imposed a fine of Rs 25 lakh on Koda and Rs one lakh on Gupta.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin has strongly opposed the central government's award of tungsten mining rights in Madurai district, urging Prime Minister Narendra Modi to cancel the decision. Citing concerns about a biodiversity heritage site and potential impacts on local communities, Stalin asserted that the state government will not permit mining in the area.
The states will get over Rs l lakh crore.
The Prime Minister's Office has asked the Coal Ministry to monitor closely the process of allotment and auction of coal mines to ensure that there is no disruption in the production of dry fuel.
Adani Enterprises has emerged as the lowest bidder in Coal India's tender for imports of the dry fuel with quoting over Rs 4,000 crore for supply of 2.416 million tonne, even though the miner is likely to "negotiate the price", an official said on Monday. A negotiation for the quoted price may take place as the gap between the lowest bid value and the miner's own estimates of Rs 3,100 crore is in excess of around 30 per cent, he said. "Adani's bid is the lowest but it is Rs 900 crore more than the Coal India's own estimate.
The government has garnered Rs 2 lakh crore by auctioning 33 blocks.
The ministry has also noted the controversial proposal of opening up the coal sector and restructuring of CIL.
The CMOAI had earlier called for a three-day strike that began on Thursday.
Zama, however, said the unions would keep resisting any move that could undermine the position of Coal India.
The government on Monday came under sharp attack on the issue of crucial files of Coal ministry going missing, with the Opposition alleging that it was a conspiracy to save Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the coal block allocation scam and demanding an impartial probe into it.
The government on Friday issued fresh show cause notices to prior allottees of coal blocks like JSPL, JSW and Tata Steel, asking reasons behind delays in mines development and warned of deduction in their bank guarantees if they failed to furnish replies.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances