Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi: The Comptroller & Auditor General (CAG) report on coal mining is certain to cause discomfort to the government during the ongoing Budget Session, with CPI-M Politburo member Sitaram Yechury on Thursday criticising the government for not auctioning coal blocks.
Yechury demanded Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the matter and also said that his party will raise the issue in Parliament.
The Comptroller & Auditor General (CAG) in its draft report on coal mining in the country has accused the government of having given “undue benefits" to a number of companies leading to a loss of Rs 10.67 lakh crore to the national exchequer.
The CAG report says that the government incurred the loss as coal blocks were not auctioned between 2004 and 2009, a newspaper reported on Thursday.
The CAG draft report titled 'Performance Audit of Coal Block Allocations' said that the beneficiaries include some 100 private companies, as well as some Public Sector Units (power, steel and cement).
Of the estimated loss of Rs 10.67 lakh crore, private firms cornered more than Rs 4.79 lakh crore while around Rs 5.88 lakh crore went to the PSUs, the paper said.
First Published: Thursday, March 22, 2012, 11:02