Bhubaneswar, Sept. 13: Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik today asserted that his government had done “nothing wrong” in making recommendations to the Centre for allotment of coal blocks to private companies.
Three of his ministerial colleagues — panchayati raj minister Kalpataru Das, energy minister Arun Sahu and steel and mines minister Rajanikant Singh — even went a step ahead and welcomed a CBI probe into allegations of “favouritism” by the state. “We are not scared of any probe into the Odisha government’s decision to recommend names for allotment of coal blocks to private companies,” said one of the ministers.
The chief minister and the three ministers were reacting to the statement of Union minister of state attached to the Prime Minister’s Office V. Naryanswamy.
The Union minister, who was on a day’s visit to Odisha, had said the CBI should inquire into the case of recommendation of names of companies by the government, especially Jindal Steel and Power Limited (JSPL), for allotment of coal blocks.
Stating that coal was a subject on which the central government had complete authority, Naveen said: “In a number of cases, private companies, who do not benefit the state, have been given coal blocks in Odisha without our recommendation. Why did the Centre make allocation to such companies?”
Making it clear that the Odisha government had always stood for value addition within the state, Naveen said the government had recommended coal blocks only for those companies which could have brought development to Odisha by providing more jobs and revenue.
Referring to the issue of recommending the JSPL for a coal block, Naveen said: “The state government has recommended for a coal block for their Odisha project. This block had been allotted for a private power plant in Tamil Nadu and already exceeded the dateline given to it.”
The disputed coal block in Talcher was earlier given to a Tamil Nadu-based company for its project there. The company was to commission its power project by 2002. After the company failed to meet its deadline, the Odisha government had recommended the JSPL for the coal block.
After Naveen made the statement, three of his ministerial colleagues addressed a news conference to defend Odisha’s position on the issue. They said the government was not “scared of” a CBI inquiry. “We welcome any sort of inquiry,” said Das.
On the other hand, addressing a news conference here at the Congress headquarters, Naryanswamy accused the Odisha government of following double standards on the coal issue.
“There must be a motive behind recommending the name of the JSPL for the coal block. There are hundreds and thousands of companies applying for coal blocks. There must be some vested interest.”
He said the CBI was already probing into the matter. On being asked whether the CBI would also look into the allegations against the Odisha government and interrogate Naveen, he said: “It depends on the CBI. I am not competent to comment on these things.”
Naryanswamy pointed out that Odisha, Bengal, and BJP-ruled states such as Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan had opposed open auction of coal blocks. “Instead of demanding the Prime Minister’s resignation, chief ministers of all the BJP-ruled states should resign first.”
He said: “During the NDA government, no rule was followed. During our regime, we maintained transparency while allocating coal blocks. Coal blocks were allotted on the recommendation of a screening committee in which chief secretaries of the states with coal deposits, are members.” The JSPL has invested nearly Rs 10,000 crore in Odisha.
Das said: “The Centre is not bound by the recommendation of the state. We had recommended 47 companies, but the Centre had accepted 15 names. It had rejected our recommendations in case of 32 companies.”
