The figure is nearly as big as India's defence budget and 12 per cent of the annual expenditure. ...
10:35 PM, Aug 17, 2012
New Delhi: The three Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) reports on coal allocation, power and Delhi airport modernisation were tabled in Parliament on Friday. They pegged losses running into thousands of crores, spelling trouble for the government. About the coal block, the CAG report says that presumptive loss to government from allocation amounts to as much as Rs 1.86 lakh crore, which is higher than the 2G spectrum allocation loss...
09:51 PM, Aug 17, 2012
It is quite surprising that the Comptroller and Auditor General has not advised denationalisation of the coal industry in its report to Parliament. The CAG ...
08:38 PM, Aug 17, 2012
The Opposition has slammed the government on issues of transparency and accountability. ...
08:02 PM, Aug 17, 2012
New Delhi: The government on Friday rejected the CAG report estimating Rs 1.86 lakh crore gain to private firms in allocation of coal blocks and said the policy followed was transparent and not faulty. "The policy adopted to allocate coal blocks was not faulty. There could not be a more transparent policy for allocation of coal blocks (since 2004 when no competitive bidding process was present)," Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal...
04:51 PM, Aug 17, 2012
New Delhi: Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and BJP member Sushma Swaraj said that the coal scam was the UPA's biggest yet. "The UPA is full of corruption. The PM is directly responsible for the scam. He cannot hide behind any argument now. No A Raja or Chidambaram can be used as shield like in the 2G spectrum scam case," she said. Leader of Opposition in the Rajya...
03:56 PM, Aug 17, 2012
New Delhi: The spectre of corruption has come back to haunt the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance Government once again with the Comptroller and Auditor General coming down heavily on the Centre for its "flawed" policy on coal blocks allocation, Delhi international airport and power projects. As soon as the three CAG reports were tabled in Parliament on Friday, the Opposition took up the issue vociferously to corner the UPA Government...
03:55 PM, Aug 17, 2012
New Delhi: The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) had not followed its mandate under the constitution, the government said on Friday, adding that the official auditor's report on coal blocks tabled in Parliament would be considered final only after it was examined by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC). The CAG report on allocation of coal blocks has pegged loss to the exchequer as on March 11 this year at a...
03:48 PM, Aug 17, 2012
Mumbai: Shares in Reliance Power fell more than 6 per cent on Friday after the CAG said the company unduly benefited from a government decision allowing the power producer to use surplus coal from its captive block for another project it was not meant for. Reliance Power, controlled by billionaire Anil Ambani, is developing a 4000 MW project at Sasan in Madhya Pradesh and was allotted captive blocks to fuel...
02:53 PM, Aug 17, 2012
New Delhi: Reliance Power on Friday reacted to the CAG report on UMPPs or Ultra Mega Power Projects that said that the company had benefited in the Sasan Ultra Mega Power Project, the country's first domestic, coal-based project. "CAG's observations don't factor in the looming coal crunch," it said, adding that it got surplus coal only via use of advance technology and that the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) ratified...
02:33 PM, Aug 17, 2012
New Delhi: Government auditor CAG on Friday said private firms are likely to gain Rs 1.86 lakh crore from coal blocks that were allocated to them on nomination basis instead of competitive bidding, which amounted to the loss to national exchequer. The CAG in its report, tabled in Parliament, names 25 companies including Essar Power, Hindalco, Tata Steel, Tata Power and Jindal Steel and Power which have got the blocks...
02:23 PM, Aug 17, 2012
New Delhi: Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) will soon decide on taking up the three CAG reports on coal blocks, Delhi international airport and power projects tabled in Parliament on Friday. "The time will be decided to take up the reports shortly and future course of action will be decided as per rules," PAC chairman and BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi said. He said the committee will seek necessary documents...
02:07 PM, Aug 17, 2012
New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday slammed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for the alleged irregularities pointed out by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report in the coal blocks allocations between 2006 and 2009. "The CAG has pointed out a loss of Rs 1.86 lakh crore to the exchequer. The BJP has been raising the issue for quite some time now," BJP leader Rajiv Pratap Rudy said. "This...
02:03 PM, Aug 17, 2012
New Delhi: The CAG report on the Delhi airport said that the decision by the Civil Aviation Ministry to award the contract for the Delhi airport to GMR caused humongous losses to the tax payers and passengers. It said that land was given to the company at much lower rates than even to government organisations like the DGCA and the BCA. The CAG has pegged the losses at about Rs...
01:42 PM, Aug 17, 2012
New Delhi: The CAG report on Ultra Mega Power Projects (UMPP) on Friday said that Reliance Power and Tata benefited in the Sasan Ultra Mega Power Project, the country's first domestic, coal-based project. It said that the government gave Reliance Power the permission to use excess coal from three blocks allocated that had been allocated for the power project and that this was not only a violation of the bidding...
01:31 PM, Aug 17, 2012
New Delhi: The CAG report on coal was tabled in the Rajya Sabha on Friday. The report said that the coal blocks allocations scam was much bigger than the 2G scam. According to the report, the coal allocations caused the exchequer a loss of Rs 1.86 lakh crore, much bigger than what the 2G scam cost. The report said that the estimate was only on account of private players and...
01:26 PM, Aug 17, 2012
New Delhi: All three CAG reports on coal, power and aviation were tabled in the Rajya Sabha on Friday. The report on coal blocks allocations puts the presumptive loss to the Government at Rs 1.86 lakh crore, which is much bigger and greater than the 2G scam itself. CNN-IBN has accessed the final draft of the CAG report on coal block allocations that also raises questions on the role of...
12:50 PM, Aug 17, 2012
New Delhi: CAG reports on the privatisation of the Delhi airport, ultra mega power projects and coal block allocations are likely to be tabled in Parliament on Friday. CNN-IBN has accessed the final draft of the CAG report on coal block allocations which pegs the loss to the exchequer at Rs 1.86 lakh crore, making it even bigger than the 2G scam loss. The report also raises questions on the...
07:33 AM, Aug 17, 2012
New Delhi: With CAG reports on three critical sectors expected to be tabled in Parliament on Friday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday indicated that the government will effectively counter any Opposition attack on these issues. "We will do as well as we can," Singh said when asked how the government planned to counter the onslaught of the Opposition after the CAG reports on coal blocs allocation and Delhi International...
12:30 AM, Aug 17, 2012
CNN-IBN has accessed the final draft of the CAG report on coal block allocations which pegs the loss to the exchequer at Rs 1.86 lakh crore. ...
09:19 AM, Aug 15, 2012
