Former Union Coal Secretary PC Parakh has said he had allocated Odisha’s Talabira coal blocks to Hindalco only after the State Government said the company was setting up an aluminium plant in the State and it would create jobs, and thus, benefit the public.
After Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik wrote to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) in this regard, the PMO recommended that Hindalco be allotted the coal blocks, Parakh told a newspaper on Friday.
However, the CBI is of the view that Parakh had failed to clearly specify the “public good” involved while reversing his earlier decision not to allocate the Talabira II and III coal blocks in Jharsuguda and Sambalpur districts to Hindalco.
This, the CBI has alleged, was tantamount to abuse of his official position.