Coal news and updates

In a move that will give Congress some ammunition to return fire at BJP in the coal block allocation scam, the CBI on Wednesday registered two FIRs against two private companies and a BJP leader for alleged faulty allocation and violations in coal mining terms. 

 

The case has also been registered against unknown government officials; CBI sources say the two private companies were favoured during NDA regime, when Karia Munda and Dilip Ray held portfolios of coal ministry. 

 

CBI officials say though Karia Munda and Dilip Ray have not been named, their role would be definitely probed in alleged favour shown to the private companies. 

 

Roles of ex-ministers may be probed: CBI 

 

BJP leader Anup Agarwalla, whose father late PK Agarwalla was BJP Rajya Sabha MP, owns BLA Industries Ltd and has been named as accused in one of the FIRs in which agency has alleged that his company sold coal in open market, which was meant for establishing an end-use project. 

 

These are first two FIRs registered from the preliminary enquiry probing allocations between 1993 to 2005 taking total number of FIRs in the coal scam to 16. Earlier, CBI registered 14 FIRs related to allocations made during UPA's tenure between 2006 and 2009. 

 

In its first FIR against BLA, CBI has named the company, its Managing Director Anup Agarwalla and unknown public servants and private persons. CBI has alleged in its FIR that BLA Industries, which has its registered office in Mumbai, got two coal blocks in Madhya Pradesh and was selling coal in the open market. The worth of coal being sold in open market was at least Rs 100 crore annually, official sources claimed. 

 

The company had been allocated two coal blocks - Gotitoria (East) and Gotitoria (West) in Mohpani coalfields of Madhya Pradesh - for use in power plant to be set up by them, sources said. CBI alleged that BLA entered into an alleged criminal conspiracy with public servants of Coal Ministry and changed its end-use. The firm had got coal blocks on June 21, 1996, during the tenure of former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, after company's name was cleared by 10th screening committee, which met in April 1996. 

 

CBI sources say that PK Agarwalla was member of standing committee on coal in the parliament at that time and they are investigating the role he played in getting the two blocks to his son's company. 

 

According to sources, BLA was allocated the coal blocks for supply of coal to their captive power plant for power generation. The screening committee had made it clear that the allocation was being done for power generation. Later, Karia Munda approved company's request to declare the blocks as isolated small block on September 10, 2003 which allowed the company to do mining, wash it in its washery and sell the coal to any of the specified end users such as iron and steel, power or cement producer in Madhya Pradesh, said sources. 

 

CBI officials say that the company took permission from Karia Munda, which was against the actual condition of allocation of two coal blocks in 1996. CBI sources also said that the company had not set up its power plant for a long time after the allocations were made. 

 

During raids on Wednesday at BLA's Mumbai, Bhopal and other premises', agency recovered large number of documents related to transportation of coal for sale. 

 

CBI's second FIR on Wednesday named Kolkata-based Castron Mining and Jharkhand-based Castron Technologies, its directors, unknown public servants and private persons. CBI alleged that coal block to Castron was allocated in violation of existing guidelines. 

 

Castron Mining Ltd (formerly Castron Technologies Ltd) had got Brahmadiha coal blocks under Giridih coalfields of Jharkhand for use in manufacturing of Iron and Steel on September 1, 1999, during the BJP government's tenure and Dilip Ray was MoS coal. 

 

"The coal block in the State of Jharkhand, was allegedly allocated though this did not fit into prescribed norms and extant guidelines for allocation of coal blocks for captive end use. It has been alleged that the private company, in conspiracy with public servants, managed to get the coal block with no clear cut end use project," said CBI officials. 

 

 

Source: ToI