The Rajya Sabha witnessed frequent disruptions following the Opposition uproar over CAG reportedly pointing to a loss of over Rs 1,80,000 crore to the exchequer in the allotment of coal blocks to private companies.
The Coal Minister, Mr Sriprakash Jaiswal, has been describing the findings in the draft report on allocation of coal blocks without auction as “illogical”, asking by that yardstick even water used in the hydro projects should be charged.
“This is no logic. If this is accepted, there are so many hydro projects in the country. Tell me whether usage of water was charged,” Mr Jaiswal had said when the news of the draft report first surfaced.
He had said the argument in the CAG draft report was “baseless”, especially because when the blocks were given to the private and public sector companies for their captive usage, there was not much demand for coal.
Meanwhile, it was known whether the CAG report on allocation of coal blocks, which was termed as bigger than 2G scam, was tabled or not in Parliament today.
The matter was neither listed in the Rajya Sabha as well as the Lok Sabha’s list of business nor was it tabled till afternoon. Coal Ministry sources were also unaware of it.
According to CAG sources, the final report was made available to the Government on May 11. In fact, surprise was expressed on why the report has not been tabled as yet. Today is the last working day of Parliament.