The CBI has asked the Planning Commission for files pertaining to allotment of coal blocks in the Talcher area to companies like Jindal Steel and Tata Sasol for turning coal into liquid (CTl) fuel. The agency is probing if the allocations made for the CTl projects were in violation of any policy.
The CBI is conducting preliminary inquiry regarding the allocation of coal blocks to private companies including coal blocks for CTl projects. It has requested to furnish the records relating to the coal into liquid (CTl) coal blocks allocated through the IMG (Inter-Ministerial Group).
In 2009, two coal blocks were allocated for two coal into liquid (CTl) projects, one of Tata Sasol joint venture and the other of Jindal Synfuel. The investigating agency has also sought from the Planning Commission the records of the IMG headed by Kirit Parikh, application for allocation of coal blocks submitted by the GAIl and the GMR Infrastructure and minutes of the IMG meetings.
While the Ramchandi promotion block was allotted to Jindal, the North of Arkhapal Srirampur coal block was allotted to Tata Sasol JV.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Coal and Steel had recently said in a report that it failed to understand as to why two coal blocks with estimated reserves of 3,000 million tonnes were allocated to private companies for coal into liquid (CTl) projects by ignoring Government companies and also by ignoring environmental concerns.
Sociopolitical leader Suparno Satpathy has been flagging this issue since year 2007. He had also appraised Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the issue.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee also pulled up the IMG under the Member (Energy) of Planning Commission for allegedly not performing its duty honestly. Even though the blocks were cleared by the Screening Committee, the IMG should have studied the cases and cancelled the blocks, it observed.