There is a silent revolution taking place in the way government is transacting business in line with the new policy for promoting e-governance in all sectors of economy. Emphasis is laid on use of technology to the maximum extent so as to ensure complete transparency, ensure competition and maximise revenue generation. Because of its versatility, the Internet can offer more information about products and services than traditional media and offer interactivity on a global scale. In today’s world, it is fair to say that e-commerce brings people and organizations closer and is more relevant for the government to engage itself with the people.
The CAG report on assumed losses to the national exchequer due to arbitrary allotment of natural resources awakened India and created awareness in the minds of general public for the need to adopt fair and transparent processes. After the Supreme Court cancelled allotment of 204 coal blocks and ordered for e-auctioning, there was general confusion about the way forward. However, the e-auctioning of all the 204 coal blocks was taken up as a challenge in the right earnest by the government and MSTC. The agencies worked in tandem with each other in record time and in the first phase successfully auctioned 29 and allotted 38 coal blocks bringing in likely revenue of ` 3.35 lakh crore in the next 30 years to various state governments. This is over and above the accrual that will be available to the public and industry in the form of lower electricity tariff.
Based upon the success of coal block e-auction procedure, the cabinet decided to distribute subsidy to the stranded gas based power plants in the country utilizing the Power System Development Fund of `8000 crore. This will enable the power producers to service debts and meet operational expenses. Besides, this will benefit consumers with competitive tariffs and greater availability of power, save huge NPAs for the Banking Sector
Similar to the coal block allocation, mineral blocks were also arbitrarily allotted earlier putting in jeopardy the very credibility of the Government departments. Strides have been made in introducing technology and do away with traditional role players.