BJP objected to auction of coal fields, says coal minister

New Delhi: Coal Minister Shri Prakash Jaiswal addressing a press conference this evening, spoke about the storm over the coal report. Here are the highlights:

• Everyone has the right to use Parliament for politics but it's not to be used only for political agendas
• Opposition knows that if a debate takes place, it will be exposed  
• PM had no obligation to meet the coal needs of the time and to help grow the economy
• His decisions led to a high growth rate at a time when there was a huge recession in the US
• State governments were consulted and their approval was taken for allocation of all coal blocks
• But if the bidding process had been initiated, there would have been greater transparency and our government tried to introduce this but Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal - all state governments  aggressively opposed this because they said higher coal costs would hit industrial development in their states