The coal ministry has told the national auditor that its observations about “windfall gains” to private and state-run entities as a result of allocation of coal blocks without auction were “fallacious and erroneous”. The ministry has rejected the Comptroller and Auditor General’s (CAG)’s observation that due process was not followed in allocating blocks, and insisted that a “fair and transparent” system was followed, and decisions taken after intense scrutiny and extensive...
More »SEARCH RESULT
High Court stays clearance for DB power coal mine in Chhattisgarh by Aman Sethi
The Chhattisgarh High Court has directed that no further action be taken towards granting environmental clearance to a coal mine operated by DB Power Ltd, a subsidiary of DB Corp, one of India's largest media corporations. The respondents have been given three weeks to reply. A writ petition filed in the court accuses the company of adopting “deliberate, illegal and manipulative” measures to influence the outcome of a public hearing held...
More »Activist nun who fought Indian mining companies brutally murdered by Stephanie Nolen
-Globe and Mail Sister Valsa John wanted to go home. Living in self-imposed exile hundreds of kilometres away, she pined for the hut in an aboriginal village where she had built a life. She talked about the people she loved there, and the quiet of the nights. Then she added, in a voice both wistful and matter-of-fact: “If I go home, most probably they will kill me.” They did kill her. In...
More »CAG opens new front against govt by Appu Esthose Suresh & Utpal Bhaskar
Opposes changes in bid norms, extra land acquisition and move to allow bidders to develop more than one UMPP The government’s auditor has come down hard on irregularities in the government’s policy on so-called ultra mega power projects, or UMPPs. The report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), parts of which have been seen by Mint, is with the power ministry for its comment, and could cause further embarrassment...
More »Govt’s next CAG headache: ‘Mega losses in power deal’ by Amitav Ranjan
The Comptroller and Auditor General has alleged that the union power ministry gave “undue benefit” of Rs 1.20 lakh crore — calculated over the next 25 years — to Reliance Power Ltd (RPL) in the ultra mega power projects (UMPPs) at Sasan in Madhya Pradesh and Tilaiya in Jharkhand. In its report sent to the power ministry last month, the CAG has argued that the government did so by changing coal...
More »