CAG report on coal blocks to be tabled in Parliament
DIAL land allotment report on agenda
The much-awaited Comptroller and Auditor General’s (CAG) report on alleged irregularities in the allocation of coal blocks to private companies between 2006 and 2009 will be tabled in Parliament in the current session.
Finance Minister P Chidamabaram said on Wednesday that the report, which could not be laid on the table of the House in the last Parliament session due to delays in receiving presidential approval, would be tabled in this session.
The draft report of the CAG, which charged the government with extending more than Rs 1.8 lakh crore to private firms for allocation of coal blocks, had rocked the budgetary session of Parliament and even brought Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and a few others in the line of fire.
According to the draft CAG report, the private companies which benefited from the allocation included Adani Group, Arcelor Mittal, Lanco, Jindal Steel & Power and Anil Agarwal Group of companies.
Chidambaram said that the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha will fix the date for laying the report in both Houses, following which it will be laid in the two Houses simultaneously.
Soon after the leaked draft report in May, social activist Anna Hazare had written a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in which he alleged Singh’s involvement in the coal block scam and charged a few of his cabinet colleagues, including Chidambaram, with massive corruption.
Another CAG report charging the Aviation Ministry and Airport Authority with allotting lands worth billions of rupees to the Delhi International Airports Ltd (DIAL) at throwaway prices, is also set to be tabled in the current session, Chidambaram said. The government exchequer incurred losses of Rs 24,000 crore due to manipulation of the original agreement. This led to undue benefits worth Rs 1,63,557 crore to DIAL, the report had alleged.
