New Delhi: Lingering row between CIL and power producers such as NTPC is casting a shadow over 10 per cent divestment plans in the coal major as its parent ministry has reservations about stake sale till issues, like Rs 9,000 crore dues owed by electricity utilities, are resolved.
"Coal Ministry in a letter to the Department of Disinvestment (DoD) has said that going ahead with the stake sale process in Coal India (CIL) is not advisable till power utilities including NTPC clear its dues and labour issues are resolved," a Coal Ministry official told reporters.
The letter was sent to the DoD which had sought Coal Ministry's views on further 10 per cent divestment of government's share in the world's largest coal miner, he said. An Inter-ministerial Group (IMG), earlier this month approved 10 per cent equity sale in the coal PSU which is expected to fetch over Rs 17,000 crore to the government. The government, at present holds 90 per cent stake in it.
Power utilities, including NTPC and DVC, owe a huge amount of about Rs 9,000 crore to CIL and the Coal Ministry has already asked Power Ministry to ensure steps for payment of dues, including about Rs 3,000 crore by NTPC, to CIL....
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12:11 PM, May 19, 2013
New Delhi: A day after the Supreme Court came down heavily on the government and the Central Bureau of Investigation for sharing the coal scam probe report, Attorney General GE Vahanvati met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday. Law Minister Ashwani Kumar had also reached the PMO to meet Manmohan Singh but he was not given an appointment. Vahanvati, Ashwani Kumar and the two officials of the PMO and the...
01:57 PM, May 09, 2013
New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is likely to tell the Supreme Court on Monday that the agency's status report on coal scam was changed by Law Minister Ashwani Kumar. The details of the CBI affidavit, which it will submit before the Supreme Court on Monday, has been accessed by CNN-IBN. The CBI has reportedly made it clear in its affidavit that the status report was shown to...
01:18 PM, May 05, 2013
New Delhi: Attorney General Ghoolam E Vahanvati issued a clarification on Wednesday and said he never interfered with the Central Bureau of Investigation's (CBI) status report on coal block allocation scam. He also denied he has a copy of the report. Vahanvati has been accused by former ASG Harin Raval of having tampered with the CBI coal status report. Raval had written in his letter to Vahanvati, "Certain suggestions were...
07:28 PM, May 01, 2013
New Delhi: The Coal Ministry has handed over about 730 files to CBI for probe in the coalgate case and is prepared to give more. "We have handed over about 730 files and folders and application forms to the Central Bureau of Investigation. We have another 10 files and documents with us which we have asked the CBI to collect it from us," a Coal Ministry official said. The Ministry...
07:17 PM, May 01, 2013
New Delhi: The Ministry of Coal on Tuesday faced the ire of the Supreme Court for its non-cooperation with CBI in the coalgate scam probe by depriving the agency of crucial documents. The apex court was pained as the Ministry, whose senior official was named as one of the persons with whom CBI shared its draft status report, was running away from providing information to the agency. "It is very...
10:20 PM, Apr 30, 2013
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday filed its affidavit on the coal block allocation scam report with the Supreme Court, in which the agency's director Ranjit Sinha has said the draft of the report was shared with Law Minister Ashwani Kumar, a charge that the Congress has been rejecting. The director has also said the draft of the report was even shared with the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) ...
11:49 PM, Apr 26, 2013
New Delhi: The Congress core group met a short while back to discuss the Central Bureau of Investigation's (CBI) affidavit on coal block allocation scam report with its allies and backed Law Minister Ashwani Kumar. Kumar told the core group his job was to look at the legal points in the draft and that he had done nothing wrong. Allies said the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would be the next...
02:25 PM, Apr 26, 2013
New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday filed its affidavit on the coal block allocation scam report with the Supreme Court, in which the agency's director Ranjit Sinha has said the draft of the report was shared with Law Minister Ashwani Kumar "as desired by him", a charge that the Congress has been rejecting. The director has also said the draft of the report was even shared...
11:39 AM, Apr 26, 2013
The CBI is set to tell the Supreme Court that the probe agency's report on coal block allocation scam was shared with the Law Ministry on its request. ...
08:50 AM, Apr 23, 2013
New Delhi: A Parliamentary standing committee on coal and steel, which will submit its report on Tuesday, contains a few explosive conclusions. There could be trouble both for the UPA and NDA as the report says all the coal blocks distributed between 1993 and 2008 were unauthorised and not done in a transparent manner. Meanwhile, the report observes that no bidding process was held for coal allocations. Though it is...
08:16 AM, Apr 23, 2013
New Delhi: After recommending deallocation of eight blocks alloted to PSUs, the Inter-Ministerial Group (IMG) is likely to meet on Monday to decide the fate of 14 more mines alloted to public sector firms. "The IMG is likely to meet tomorrow to decide the fate of 14 coal blocks alloted to public sector firms," an official in the coal ministry said. The IMG, early this month, had recommended de-allocation of...
05:24 AM, Nov 19, 2012
New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday filed a preliminary enquiry in the coal blocks allocations since 1993. The central investigative agency will now study each and every allotment since 1993 and question the directors of companies and the then bureaucrats of Central and state government about the coal blocks. The Coal Ministry is expected to provide all relevant data and list of officials and ministers involved...
04:58 PM, Sep 27, 2012
New Delhi: The Inter-Ministerial Group (IMG) on coal blocks allocations will submit its report to the Coal Ministry of India on Monday as its three-day review of 29 private sector allottees, including Jindal Steel and Power and others in which relatives of politicians held positions, have concluded. "All the coal blocks on agenda for three days (September 6-8) have been reviewed," Zohra Chatterji, Additional Secretary in the Coal Ministry who...
10:44 AM, Sep 10, 2012
New Delhi: The Coal Ministry may be responsible for the delay in the de-allocation of coal blocks. According to documents accessed by CNN-IBN, the ministry has deliberately delayed the process of de-allocation. CNN-IBN has accessed letters between the Coal Secretary and the Inter Ministerial Group (IMG) Additional Secretary on the de-allocation of mines. According to the letters, while the Coal Secretary said that the de-allocation was not possible as the...
06:40 PM, Sep 05, 2012
New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed FIRs against five companies in connection with coal blocks allocation. The companies include Vinni Iron and Steel, Nav Bharat Steel, JLD Yavatmal, JAS Infrastructure and Power and AMR Iron and Steel. Cases have been registered under cheating, criminal conspiracy against the companies, owners of the companies and unknown officials of the Coal Ministry and state governments. The agency had questioned...
07:55 AM, Sep 04, 2012
New Delhi: Union Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal on Monday said that the government will not hesitate in taking action against any minister even if he or she is from the Congress in the alleged coal scam case. Jaiswal said that reviewing coal blocks is not an ordinary work as it takes one full year to review one coal block. The government has set September 15 as the deadline for a...
05:54 PM, Sep 03, 2012
New Delhi: An Inter-Ministerial Group (IMG) under the Coal Ministry is all set to cancel coal blocks allotted to private players since 1993 despite the Prime Minister's Office saying no blocks will be cancelled. In all, 148 coal blocks are under scrutiny. The panel will first look at 60 blocks which had been issued showcause notices in April. Of these 60, replies related to 17 blocks have been found to...
10:20 AM, Sep 03, 2012
New Delhi: An Inter-Ministerial Group is likely to meet on Monday to review the status of 58 coal blocks which both public and private firms failed to develop within stipulated time frame. "The Inter-Ministerial Group (IMG) under the Chairmanship of Additional Secretary Coal may meet on Monday for reviewing the status of 58 coal blocks issued show cause notices," a Coal Ministry official said. Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal has also...
11:33 AM, Sep 02, 2012
New Delhi: Amidst the storm over CAG report on coal block allocation, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has expressed displeasure over inaction by the Coal Ministry in cancelling blocks where mining has not taken place and asked it to expedite the matter by September 6. The PMO communication to the Coal Ministry came ahead of the Inter-Ministerial Group Meeting (IMG) on Monday to take a decision on the fate of...
03:56 AM, Sep 02, 2012
