The CBI is likely to seek an explanation from the Odisha Government officials on the rationale behind supporting the Hindalco’s bid for the Talabira II coal block even though the company’s claim was rejected by the Screening Committee.
CBI sources said they would investigate all the aspects of the case before preparing a final report and a clarification would be sought from the State Government soon. They said that based on the documents received from the Prime Minister’s Office, it is becoming clear that the recommendation received from Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik supporting the Hindalco’s case for the coal block was crucial in reversal of the earlier decision where the company’s application was turned down.
The sources said the CBI would examine officials of the State Government who had processed the file relating to the Chief Minister’s letter to the Prime Minister as well as those who gave inputs on the subject. After rejection of the company’s bid for the coal block by the Screening Committee, the Prime Minister had received Patnaik’s letter dated August 17, 2005 in favour of allotment of the coal block to the Hindalco.
“The CM’s letter mentioned that the State Government had assigned topmost priority to the allocation of Talabira-II to Hindalco and had strongly supported the case in the Steering Committee meeting,” the PMO had said in a statement in the wake of the CBI recently filing a complaint on the allegedly illegal coal block allotment.
“To imply that our Chairman, Mr. Kumar Mangalam Birla, managed to overturn the decision of the Screening Committee, is preposterous,” a statement from the Hindalco had said, refuting the allegations levelled in the CBI FIR.Patnaik’s letter had argued that aluminium plants such as the Hindalco’s in Sambalpur should get higher priority over independent power plants as they generate more employment, create more wealth for the country and add to the growth of the manufacturing sector directly.