Cancellation of Coal Block Allocations Not Right: Godrej

Bangalore: Cancellation of coal block allocations may not be the right step to take as it might impact business sentiment, particularly in the power sector, CII President Adi Godrej said. "Cancellation of the current coal block allocations may not be the right step as it will negatively impact business sentiments, particularly in sectors like the power which are already hard hit by the lack of coal supplies," Adi Godrej said in a statement. Transparency in fixing the eligibility criteria is the need of the hour, he said. He also underlined the importance of sustainable mining. There has been demand for cancellation of coal blocks allotted to various companies, in the wake of of CAG reports on coal blocks allocations. According to the CAG report placed in Parliament, "Delay in introduction of the process of competitive bidding has rendered the existing process beneficial to the private companies. Audit has estimated financial gains to the tune of 1.86 lakh crore likely to accrue to private coal block allottees." Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had yesterday questioned the CAG findings and described them as "disputable and flawed". "The policy of allocation of coal blocks to private parties, which the CAG has criticised, was not a new policy introduced by the UPA. The policy has existed since 1993 and previous government also allocated coal blocks in precisely the manner that the CAG has now criticised," Singh had said.