Reuters: World News: India loses $210 billion in coal sales in "mother of all scams"

Reuters: World News Reuters.com is your source for breaking news, business, financial and investing news, including personal finance and stocks. Reuters is the leading global provider of news, financial information and technology solutions to the world's media, financial institutions, businesses and individuals. // via fulltextrssfeed.com

India loses $210 billion in coal sales in "mother of all scams" Mar 22nd 2012, 09:31 Tweet Share this Email Print Related News India PM office says coal reports "misleading" 5:31am EDT Analysis & Opinion The rich versus the seething masses Is the fiscal deficit phony? 1 of 3. Labourers load coal on trucks at Bari Brahamina in Jammu in this May 20, 2010 file photo. Credit: Reuters/Mukesh Gupta/Files NEW DELHI | Thu Mar 22, 2012 5:31am EDT NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India lost up to $210 billion in revenue by selling coal deposits too cheaply, according to a government auditor's draft report, renewing pressure on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who is already reeling from corruption scandals. Opposition parties reacted with outrage in parliament on Thursday to the report, which was leaked to the Times of India. The session was adjourned and the government said it would respond once it had verified the facts. "We are examining the news report and I have called for records. After that I will reply," Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal told reporters. The leaked draft from the Comptroller and Auditor General's (CAG) office criticizes the government for allocating 155 valuable coalfields to about 100 private and some state-run miners instead of auctioning them off to the highest bidder. It said the policy undervalued the coal by at least 10.7 trillion rupees, or $210 billion at today's exchange rate. "This is the mother of all scams," said Venkaiah Naidu, a senior leader in the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party. "The prime minister should reply." Prime Minister Singh, who himself oversaw the coal ministry during some of the period in question, declined to reply to questions by reporters at parliament. A similar investigation over the allocation of telecoms licenses led to huge protests that rocked Singh's government last year and landed a minister and several company executives in jail. In the telecoms scandal, officials are accused of taking bribes to favor certain companies. Jaiswal said he was not serving as minister during the period under scrutiny and that the government policy was now to auction coal blocks. The coal minister was expected to reply in parliament later on Thursday after consulting with the prime minister's office. A CAG source said the report would probably be presented to parliament in the next few days. (Reporting by Nigam Prusty, Manoj Kumar and Ratnajyoti Dutta. Writing by Frank Jack Daniel; Editing by John Chalmers) Tweet this Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/ Comments (0) Be the first to comment on reuters.com. Add yours using the box above.

You are receiving this email because you subscribed to this feed at blogtrottr.com. If you no longer wish to receive these emails, you can unsubscribe from this feed, or manage all your subscriptions