Set back to govt, CAG exposes over Rs 10.7 lakh cr coal scam

New Delhi, Mar 22: After submitting an explosive report on allocation of 2G spectrum and licences last year, the Comptroller and Auditor General's (CAG's) draft report titled 'Performance Audit of Coal Block Allocations' says the government has lost Rs 10.67 lakh crore by giving 155 coal blocks to commercial entities without auction between 2004 and 2009.

According to media reports the beneficiaries include some 100 private companies, as well as some public sector units, industries such as power, steel and cement.

Companies namely Jindal Steel & Power Ltd, Tata Group entities, the Anil Agarwal Group firms, Aditya Birla Group companies, Essar Group's power ventures, Adani Group, Arcelor Mittal India, Lanco Group, Jayaswal Neco, Electro Steel Castings Ltd, Bhushan Power & Steel Ltd and Abhijeet Group were among the main beneficiaries.

The auditing body estimated loss figure of Rs 10.67 lakh crore at Mar 31, 2011 which is almost six times that of its highest presumptive loss figure of Rs 1.76 lakh crore for the 2G scam.

Moreover, CAG report revealed that even by the price levels prevailing at the time of allocations, the estimate of loss would be over Rs 6.31 lakh crore.

Meanwhile, main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party alleged PMO for the scam and has given a notice in Rajya Sabha to discuss the CAG report on the coal scam. Samajwadi Party also asked for an adjournment motion on question hour to discuss this scam.

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