Hindalco Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla broke his silence for the first time on Friday after CBI named him in an FIR on Tuesday in a coal allocation case saying the company has done no wrong and he is not worried about the fallout on the group’s application for a bank licence.
The noted industrialist spoke after meeting Finance Minister P Chidambaram and Revenue Secretary Sumit Bose in the North Block office.
“As of now, I am not worried about it. There is nothing wrong (that) has been done, so why should one worryIJ” he told reporters when asked if the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) FIR would cast a shadow on the Aditya Birla Group’s application for a bank licence.
Birla said he discussed the CBI FIR with the minister.
“I obviously brought this up with FM...So many other things to talk about...Work goes on. We are in so many other industries. There are so many other things to discuss with him,” he said.
The CBI has lodged a case against Birla and former coal secretary PC Parekh on charges of criminal conspiracy and corruption in connection with alleged irregularities in the allocation of coal blocks eight years ago.
The investigating agency alleged in its FIR that after rejection of Hindalco’s plea in 2005, Birla wrote two letters and held a “personal meeting” with then Coal Secretary Parakh, after which a decision was reversed and Hindalco was given a coal block that was meant for two public sector undertakings -- Mahanadi Coal Fields and Neyveli lignite.
CBI sources said Birla had written to the Prime Minister’s As of now, I am not worried about it. There is nothing wrong (that) has been done, so why should one worryIJ” Office, which forwarded the letter to the Coal Ministry.
The investigating agency yesterday claimed to have made a fresh recovery of documents from Aditya Birla Group, which included retail invoices of gold coins totalling Rs 94 lakh, investments in various schemes to the tune of Rs 17 lakh, besides Rs 24 lakh in petty cash.
Meanwhile, Aditya Birla Group firm Hindalco is unlikely to get tapering coal linkage for its captive power plant in Odisha with the Coal Ministry conveying to the firm that state-owned CIl does not have sufficient fuel.
“Hindalco had approached the Coal Ministry seeking tapering linkage for its captive power plant in Odisha as the company stated that the production from the coal block (Talabira II) allocated to it for the plant would be delayed,” said an official.
The Coal Ministry, the official said, has indicated to the company that it was not be possible for Coal India ltd to provide tapering linkage as it does not have sufficient coal.
When contacted, Hindalco said: “The company’s proposal for tapering linkages for its captive power plant in Odisha is not rejected”.
Hindalco has been in the news following CBI’s lodging a case against its chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla and former Coal Secretary PC Parekh on charges of criminal conspiracy and corruption in connection with alleged irregularities in allocation of Talabira coal blocks in Odisha.
Tapering linkage is the short-term linkage provided to those coal consumers who have been allocated captive coal blocks for meeting the fossil fuel requirements of their end use plants but production of coal from the allotted mines could not develop on time.