New Delhi:
Even as the CBI investigation into allegations of corruption in the allotment of coal blocks gathers momentum, the Coal Ministry has sent show cause notices to 32 companies for not showing progress on captive coal blocks allotted to them.
A show cause notice is the first step towards the cancellation of licences. Notices have been sent to companies of the Jindal, Tata, Birla and Jayaswal groups, among others.
The company that has been sent the maximum number of show-cause notices is Jindal Steel and Power Ltd, owned by Congress MP Naveen Jindal. Notices have been sent for five blocks allotted singly or jointly to JSPL and Jindal Photo.
The Naveen Jindal group was allotted a total 11 blocks, making it the single largest beneficiary of the controversial policy of captive coal allotment, drawing allegations of cronyism by the opposition BJP.
The notices have been issued by the high-powered Inter Ministerial Group set up by the government to weed out non-performing "squatters" who have not done enough to develop their coal blocks.
Already, 22 allotments have been cancelled. And bank guarantees for another 36 have been forfeited.
The Coal Ministry says the action is based purely on whether an allotted block has been developed or not, and not on whether there were any irregularities in the allotment. That, they say, is being investigated by the CBI.
Last year, the government's auditor, the Comptroller and Auditor General or CAG had said in a report that the government chose a faulty policy to allot coal blocks, resulting in a Rs 10.67 crore loss to the exchequer. A CBI investigation was ordered after the BJP alleged that there was corruption in the allotment process.
The case is particularly sensitive for the Congress-led UPA government because, for part of the period under review, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had charge of the coal ministry.
Last week, Law Minister Ashwani Kumar was forced to resign because of furore over his having vetted the draft of a CBI report that was meant for the Supreme Court.
A show cause notice is the first step towards the cancellation of licences. Notices have been sent to companies of the Jindal, Tata, Birla and Jayaswal groups, among others.
The company that has been sent the maximum number of show-cause notices is Jindal Steel and Power Ltd, owned by Congress MP Naveen Jindal. Notices have been sent for five blocks allotted singly or jointly to JSPL and Jindal Photo.
The Naveen Jindal group was allotted a total 11 blocks, making it the single largest beneficiary of the controversial policy of captive coal allotment, drawing allegations of cronyism by the opposition BJP.
The notices have been issued by the high-powered Inter Ministerial Group set up by the government to weed out non-performing "squatters" who have not done enough to develop their coal blocks.
Already, 22 allotments have been cancelled. And bank guarantees for another 36 have been forfeited.
The Coal Ministry says the action is based purely on whether an allotted block has been developed or not, and not on whether there were any irregularities in the allotment. That, they say, is being investigated by the CBI.
Last year, the government's auditor, the Comptroller and Auditor General or CAG had said in a report that the government chose a faulty policy to allot coal blocks, resulting in a Rs 10.67 crore loss to the exchequer. A CBI investigation was ordered after the BJP alleged that there was corruption in the allotment process.
The case is particularly sensitive for the Congress-led UPA government because, for part of the period under review, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had charge of the coal ministry.
Last week, Law Minister Ashwani Kumar was forced to resign because of furore over his having vetted the draft of a CBI report that was meant for the Supreme Court.
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