On the fourth day of the deadlock in Parliament, the government on Friday indicated its willingness to revisit the allocation of one coal mine, to Reliance Power’s Sasan power plant. While he debunked the Comptroller and Auditor General’s (CAG’s) calculation of Rs 1.86 lakh crore as financial gain to private companies, Finance Minister P Chidambaram was not outright in dismissing a CAG suggestion that the allocation of the Chhatrasal coal mine to Sasan should be reviewed.
At a press conference by three senior ministers of the UPA government, Chidambaram said it was “regrettable” that the CAG had not taken note of either the Attorney General’s (AG’s) opinion or the Empowered Group of Ministers’ (EGoM’s) decision in its report on the ultra mega power plant. Asked whether in the wake of the CAG’s allegation the government would seek a review of allocation of the block for Reliance Power’s Sasan ultra mega power project (UMPP), in addition to the two existing mines, Moher and Moher Amlori Extension, Chidambaram said, “There is the CAG report. There is the AG’s opinion. And, there is the EGoM’s decision. The government will consider all of that and, if necessary, bring a paper to the EGoM or the Cabinet and take a decision.”
An empowered group of ministers has twice allowed the company to use extra coal from the Sasan blocks in its Chitrangi power plant. A Tata Power petition challenging the government decision is pending in the Supreme Court. In its response to CAG allegations of undue benefit of Rs 29,033 crore, Reliance Power has maintained the allocation of blocks for the UMPP was the only instance where the bidding route was adopted. Reliance Power's mining plan has indicated that Moher and Moher-Amlohri Extension would produce 20 million tonnes (mt) of coal annually while Chhatrasal would produce five mt against a requirement of 16 mt for Sasan UMPP.
On 57 captive coal blocks allotted during 2006-09, Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal, who was also present at the conference, said the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was inquiring into the matter. The government’s no-loss line relies on the fact that barring one, these acreages have not started production yet. "If coal is not mined and it remains buried in Mother Earth, where is the loss? Loss can arise only when coal is dug out of the earth, mined and sold at an unacceptable price or value,” Chidambaram said, adding that disruption of Parliament was a far more important issue than the findings of any report.
Appealing to the Opposition to allow resumption of parliamentary work from Monday, Chidambaram and Law Minister Salman Khurshid indicated that if the BJP did not allow the Prime Minister to present his views in Parliament then he might bring those before the people directly, hinting at a public statement or address. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was officiating as the coal minister twice during the period in which the CAG has alleged financial gains to companies such as Essar Power, Bhushan Power & Steel, Sterlite and Jindal Steel & Power.