CAG says Rs 43,270.01 cr was spent by the water resources department on 426 incomplete projects.
Asserting that it has nothing to hide, the government on Thursday said it was prepared to discuss threadbare the CAG report on coal block allocation in Parliament and reply to the issues raised by the opposition.
Trying to wriggle out of the controversy over Union Minister V Narayansamy's remarks on the Comptroller and Auditor General, the Congress on Monday indicated that the government will not go in for changes in the auditor's institutional mechanism based on the "activities of a person".
Seeking to corner the government over the CAG report on coal block allocation, the Bharatiya Janata Party is understood to have reached out to key UPA constituent Trinamool Congress.
Attacking the Bharatiya Janata Party for disrupting Parliament proceedings, the government on Wednesday said it was making all efforts to persuade the main opposition party to discuss the CAG report on coal block allocation.
The Comptroller and Auditor General, which had at the end of its first sitting with RIL in January suspended the audit of spending on the flagging KG-D6 block following differences with RIL over scope and extent of the scrutiny, is likely to resume it next two weeks.
The government had in October 2007 set a sale price of $4.20 per million British thermal unit based on the price discovered by RIL from key customers.
Agitated over its finding in the coal mine allocation issue, Congress on Monday targeted the Comptroller and Auditor General again by utilising the opinion of the Supreme Court on the 2G spectrum issue. Noting certain observations of the apex court in the 2G case, spokesperson Manish Tewari said, "If the Supreme Court can be so circumspect in its observations, is it not essential that other constitutional bodies, especially the CAG, should follow suit?".
Contrary to the CAG report, the true scam is not exclusive to the UPA, or one for which it bears the prime culpability. Rather, it's a collective or collusive scandal, with both the UPA-ruled Centre and the non-UPA states reaching a nice 'match fixing'-style arrangement to snatch away coal mines from public sector companies and allot coal-mining leases to shady business interests, says Praful Bidwai.
Lashing out at the Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday for its stand on the coal controversy, the Congress alleged that there was a clear similarity between the anti-Bofors campaign and the present one on the coal blocks allocation. "Between 1985 and 1990, there was a campaign after the CAG report on Bofors against Rajiv Gandhi, with foreign journals also publishing articles. There is a similar pattern to it from 2009 to the present times," said Digvijay Singh.
The CAG report, tabled in Parliament on Tuesday, said because of non-deployment of pay loaders, South Eastern Coalfields Ltd, a CIL subsidiary, failed to utilise gainfully the existing crushing facilities and to earn an additional revenue of Rs 12.76 crore (Rs 127.6 million) during June 2010 and May 2011.
Giving another twist to the 2G spectrum allocation controversy, a former comptroller and auditor general official has questioned the CAG's estimates of presumptive loss of Rs 1.76 lakh crore. "After completing the audit of the ministry of telecom, which was under my direct charge, I prepared a draft audit report covering each and every aspect. My report did not contain any loss figure," said former director general of CAG R P Singh.
Accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party of spreading anarchy in the country on the coal block allocation issue, Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal on Sunday said no one can force Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to resign till he enjoys the support of people.
Amid the ruckus over the CAG report on coal block allocation issue, the Lok Sabha on Thursday passed a bill that would allow the government to set up All India Institute of Medical Sciences-like institutes across the country by a notification.
Is the BJP right in stalling Parliament thus, leading to virtually no business being transacted, or should they roll back their tactic and abide by parliamentary norms and submit to a debate in the House?
After stalling Parliament proceedings on the coal allocation issue, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday made it clear that this will be followed up with countrywide protests against the government on the corruption issue.
In the recent auction, the government got total bids worth Rs 9,407.64 crore, just one-third of Rs 28,000 crore it had expected.
Keeping up the government's attack on the Comptroller and Auditor General, Union minister V Narayanasamy on Friday said the top auditor owed an explanation on its estimated loss of Rs 1.76 lakh crore in 2G spectrum allocation in the previous auction.
On instructions from Congress president Sonia Gandhi, senior Union ministers were asked to brief Congress MPs on the allocation of coal blocks and the CAG report.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who is facing sharp criticism from the opposition over the CAG report on coal block allocations, on Monday made an earnest appeal to the Bharatiya Janata Party to debate the issue in Parliament and not disrupt proceedings.
"If the CAG report cannot be discussed, the Prime Minister cannot make a statement, then what's going on for the last so many days... Sadly, the BJP is showing confusion of its mind and also beginning to look intellectually dishonest," Law Minister Salman Khurshid told media persons outside Parliament House.
Amidst Opposition ruckus in Lok Sabha, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday asserted that the observations of the CAG on the allocation of coal blocks were clearly disputable.
Some of Bharatiya Janata Party's allies have proposed a "via media" which could end the current impasse in Parliament over "coalgate" which disrupted Parliament all of this week.
The Press Trust of India on Sunday in its report quoted Minister of State in the Prime Minister's office V Narayanasamy as having said that converting the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) into a multi-member body was under consideration of the government. The minister, however, said that he was misquoted.
As the Opposition paralysed Parliament over the CAG report on coal block allocations, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday said the government is ready for any discussion and give satisfactory answers to all issues raised.
Setting aside their confrontation over the CAG report on coal block allocation, opposition and the ruling dispensation on Tuesday got together in a rare show to unanimously elect Congress leader P J Kurien as Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman.
With the Comptroller and Auditor General reports on three critical sectors expected to be tabled in Parliament on Friday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has indicated that the government will effectively counter any Opposition attack on these issues.
The Delhi government on Friday said Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has not been indicted by the Comptroller and Auditor General on corruption charges for dubious Commonwealth Games projects and the auditor has only pointed out certain "procedural wrongdoings".
Vicky Nanjappa accessed the CAG report on illegal mining in Karnataka and finds out that the in the face of losses worth thousands of crores, the state administration had only been able to recover just Rs 7.22 crore
The PSC provides for a financial audit -- checking of the contractor's accounts in order to verify the charges and credits, but not a performance audit that scrutinises efficacies of processes or technology used in the complex deep sea operations.
The Comptroller & Auditor General of India has castigated the Maharashtra government for alleged irregularities in the sale and allotment of land in the past eight years, resulting in loss to the exchequer.
The Comptroller and Auditor General can do a performance audit of production sharing contracts
Launching a month-long campaign ahead of assembly elections, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday raised the coal issue, accusing the Congress of whipping up an atmosphere of anger against the CAG like it did against the Supreme Court in the 2G case.
In a stinging attack on the Comptroller and Auditor General, the Congress on Monday alleged the government auditor was as much responsible as the Bharatiya Janata Party for the disruption of the just-concluded monsoon session of Parliament on the coal mine allocation issue.
Modi said his government had made efforts to make all kitchens in the country smoke free.
Former CAG official R P Singh, who has created a storm with his statements on the 2G spectrum allocation audit, on Saturday claimed that his superiors gave him "written order" following which he signed on the final report giving a presumptive loss figure of Rs 1.76 lakh crore.
United Progressive Alliance key ally Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam on Monday strongly pitched for a multi-member Comptroller and Auditor General, saying the recent flopped auction of 2G spectrum that netted only about Rs 9,000 crore had proved wrong the top auditors' report pegging the presumptive loss in 2G allocation at Rs 1.76 lakh crore.
The eighth consecutive day of Parliament was lost on Friday due to the uproar created by the Bharatiya Janata Party over coal block allocations, raising the prospect of a washout of the remaining part of the Monsoon Session, which ends on September 7. Uproarious scenes were witnessed in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha in the last seven days, with the CAG report on the coal block allocation issue creating turmoil with the BJP paralysing the proceedings.
Parliament was adjourned once again on Thursday amid din as Bharatiya Janata Party persisted with its demand for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's resignation provoking Congress members to raise slogans.
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