Know what the Coalgate scandal is

New Delhi: The Coalgate Scandal, also known as the Coal Mining Scandal, was one in which the Government of India allegedly allocated 142 national coal blocks arbitrarily to state-run and private companies from the period 2004-09, as stated by the Comptroller and Auditor General's report on an audit. According to the CAG's report submitted on the floor of the house on 17th Aug 2012, the Government deviated from the standard protocol of competitive bidding, resulting in an estimated loss of Rs.1, 86,000 crore.The essence of the CAG's argument is that the Government had the authority to allocate coal blocks by a process of competitive bidding, but chose not to.On 27 August 2012 Manmohan Singh read a statement in Parliament rebutting the CAG's report both in its reading of the law and the alleged cost of the government's policies.While the initial CAG report suggested that coal blocks could have been allocated more efficiently, resulting in more revenue to the government, at no point did it suggest that corruption was involved in the allocation of coal. Over the course of 2012, however, the question of corruption has come to dominate the discussion. In response to a complaint by the BJP, the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) directed the CBI to investigate the matter. The CBI has named a dozen Indian firms in a First Information Report (FIR), the first step in a criminal investigation. These FIRs accuse them of overstating their net worth, failing to disclose prior coal allocations, and hoarding rather than developing coal allocations.The CBI officials investigating the case have speculated that bribery may be involved.The CAG report consists of the results of the Performance Audit on “Allocation of coal blocks and Augmentation of Coal Production”. There was a widening gap between demand and domestic supply of coal and at the same time increasing imports of coal. The CAG Report criticized the sales procedure that was followed and said the allocation of coal fields “lacked transparency and objectivity. The report brought to light the following facts:• 142 coal fields were sold since July 2004 to private and state-run companies. Some of the coalfields bought by private companies in 2004 did not begin production till 2011, while some companies later made enormous profits by selling the coal mines.• The auditor's coal field report to Parliament estimated that private companies made windfall gains of up to $34 billion because of the low bidding prices paid for the fields. The report said an auction would have given the government a portion of that money.• The auditors said the allocations were made on the recommendation of state governments. The CAG report exonerated Prime Minister Manmohan Singh even though he was running the coal ministry for the period under review.• Against a predicted growth rate of production of 43.07 per cent (Original) and 33.73 per cent (revised) for XI Plan, the actual growth of production was only 19.51 per cent in four years till 2010-2011. Even the reduced target of production by the Planning commission in the mid-term appraisal, was further lowered by 8.12 per cent by CIL for 2011-2012

Know what the Coalgate scandal is

New Delhi: The Coalgate Scandal, also known as the Coal Mining Scandal, was one in which the Government of India allegedly allocated 142 national coal blocks arbitrarily to state-run and private companies from the period

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