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Faced with barbs from the Opposition for recommending the Talabira-II coal block in favour of Aditya Birla Group owned Hindalco Industries, the Naveen Patnaik led government here has sought to steer free of the row.
While the Opposition sniffs a tacit deal between chief minister Patnaik and the Birla owned industrial house behind the push for the coal block allocation, state officials have justified the recommendation, arguing it was in in the state's interest.
They pointed out that original allottee of the coal block, Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC) proposed to set up a 2000 Mw power plant through a joint venture.
On the contrary, Hindalco intended to set up a 0.26 million tonne smelter and 650 MW captive power plant in its integrated aluminium project in Sambalpur district and a 100 MW captive power plant for the expansion of its Hirakud aluminium plant in Odisha.
Hence, Patnaik had recommended Hindalco’s case as he felt aluminium plants should get higher priority over independent power plants as they generate more employment, create more wealth for the country and add to the growth of the manufacturing sector directly, a senior government official said.
Patnaik’s letter further argued that it is equitable to accord higher priority to units adding more value through manufacturing within the state where the coal mine is located. The letter urged that these special considerations be kept in mind and the matter examined expeditiously, he added.
Meanwhile, the salvo from the Opposition parties Congress and BJP has presumably piled unease on the chief minister after a special CBI court summoned former prime minister, Manmohan Singh as accused in the case.
Leader of Opposition in the state assembly Narasingha Mishra pressed for an enquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the circumstances prompting Patnaik to write to then prime minister in August, 2005, to allocate the coal block in Hindalco’s favour.
“Once the screening committee had rejected the coal block for Hindalco, there was no justification for the chief minister to write the recommendation letter in favour of the company. Now, the CBI court has stated that the company officials succeeded in persuading Patnaik to write the letter to the prime minister, which gave a fresh lease of life to Hindalco’s bid. The ambit of CBI probe should cover the circumstances that prompted the chief minister to write the letter”, Mishra said.
State BJP unit president K V Singh Deo said, the CBI may quiz Patnaik anytime in connection with the Talabira coal block allotment case.
But Patnaik rubbished the Opposition's demand for his interrogation by the CBI. “The order from the court is quite clear and it has nothing to do with us,” Patnaik told reporters on his return from Delhi, replying to a query on allocation of Talabira II coal block.
The special CBI court also clarified it was not holding Patnaik guilty of any criminal conspiracy in the coal allocation case. Senior BJD leader Amar Satapathy said, recommending a coal block did not amount to any crime and it is only the final decision making authority that is to be held responsible. Apart from Hindalco, Patnaik has recommended grant of Utkal B1 and Ramchandi promotional coal blocks for Jindal Steel & Power Ltd (JSPL) even before the signing of any memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the company.
