Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today defended his writing to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to 'examine expeditiously' the plea of Aditya Birla Group company Hindcalco for allotment of a coal block in the state, which is under the CBI scanner, saying it was done keeping the best interests of Odisha in mind.
"I had urged the Prime Minister to examine Hindalco's request for coal block ... But as per the procedure for coal block allocation, the final decision rests with the central government," Patnaik told reporters here.
Patnaik had on August 17, 2005 written a letter to the Prime Minister saying "I would strongly urge you to have the matter examined so that this vitally important project is provided with required coal linkage at an early date."
A copy of the letter was released by the Chief Minister's office today.
The Chief Minister was apparently reacting to Minister of State for Prime Minister's Office V Narayansamy's remark that coal blocks were allocated to public and private sector companies on the basis of recommendation of states.
