Shinde's name surfaces in 'coalgate'

Lobbied in his capacity as then power minister for Bhushan Energy Limited (BEL), to get it a captive coal mine

GN Bureau | September 17, 2012



It seems there is no end to the names of ministers and ruling Congress leaders tumbling out in the massive coal block allocation. Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde's name has surfaced for pushing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to intervene and allocate a coal block in Orissa to a private firm in 2007.

He lobbied in his capacity as then power minister for Bhushan Energy Limited (BEL), a subsidiary of Bhushan Steel, to get it a captive coal mine after its case was rejected by the screening committee of the officers and the company approached him to state that it had been discriminated by giving the Amarkunda Murgadangal coal block it had sought to Jindal Steel and Power Limited.

The BEL wrote to Shinde for his intervention on September 17, 2007 and he followed it up fast, writing to the Prime Minister three days letter, stressing that BEL be allocated the coal block "to let the operations begin at the 2000MW thermal power plant in Angul district." He stressed in his letter that "we need to allot coal blocks to the companies with "greater preparedness and attached BEL's letter stating that it was in the state of "readiness" and the urgency was to give it a captive coal block for raw material needed for its power plant.

His recommendation to the Prime Minister was to override the screening committee's recommendations and allow 50 percent share in the coal block in Orissa to BEL and the rest to Jindal Steel and Gagan Sponge Iron, pointing out the "two entities were owned by the same group."

It was, however, after the power ministry cross-checked details of BEL and its antecedents that Shinde became wiser to rescind his recommendation for favouring the company.

Comments

 

Other News

Gandhian movement after Gandhi failed: Ram Guha

The Gandhian movement in India, after Gandhi’s death, failed, says Ramachandra Guha, and blames Vinoba Bhave for it. But the movement found new, fertile grounds around the world and succeeded in bringing about a change in South Africa, the US and elsewhere. It is high time it returned home. Of cour

When religion, politics and Bollywood come together

Tavleen Singh, noted journalist and political commentator, has turned to fiction, with her debut novel ‘The Actor’ (HaperCollins India). Set in the near future, it has a superstar, Amit Singh, turning to politics, when the political landscape is dominated by prime minister Guru Gaynendraj

Cabinet approves setting up of Integrated Transport & Logistics Authority

The union cabinet, chaired by prime minister Narendra Modi, on Tuesday approved the setting up of a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), called Integrated Transport & Logistics Authority (ITLA), to strengthen research, planning, appraisal, monitoring and impact assessment within the broad domains of Transp

Why foundational literacy and numeracy is key to school education

Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) are often described as the building blocks of education. Yet, their significance goes well beyond a child’s ability to read a sentence, write a response or solve a basic mathematical problem. These foundational skills shape how children understand the world,

When police data becomes the algorithm

For decades, policing has followed a familiar sequence: a crime occurs, the police respond, an investigation produces records and those records become part of the institutional memory of the criminal justice system. Artificial intelligence is beginning to alter that sequence. Instead of merely recording

Before India voted, the framers worried about the referee

“We are making a Constitution forever and not only for today.” Shibban Lal Saksena said this in the Constituent Assembly on June 15, 1949. He was warning that a ruling party might one day choose a loyalist to run India’s elections. Seventy-seven years later, the Supreme Court is wrestli

Upcoming Conferences



-->

Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter