The curious case of Talabira II

First two blocks were allocated in same month, November 2005, when P C Parakh was secretary

 

 

The latest First Information Report (FIR) lodged by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the coal scam, 14th so far, that alleges the government made Hindalco Industries a joint allottee in the Talabira II block originally recommended for Neyveli Lignite, has raised a key question – how common were cases of joint public-private allocation of reserves? Quite uncommon it seems.

A Business Standard analysis of the 177 block allocations done since 2004 reveals there have been only three cases where a block has been allocated jointly to a public and a private sector company. This includes -- Talabira II allocated to Mahanadi Coalfields (MCL), Neyveli Lignite (NLC) and Hindalco; Utkal A, allocated to MCL, JSW Steel, Jindal Thermal Power, Jindal Stainless Steel and Shyam DRI Ltd; and Vijay Central awarded to Coal India (CIL) and SKS Ispat & Power.

The first two blocks were allocated in the same month, November 2005, when P C Parakh was the secretary. He retired the next month in December. The third block was allocated in November 2011 after the resolution of a two year long dispute between the original allottees.

The Birla coal allocation case is exceptional in other ways too. While the CBI has so far filed 14 FIRs in the coal scam investigations, it has alleged “abuse of official position” in only two cases – allocation of Talabira II to Hindalco, MCL and NLC in which Parakh is alleged to have accommodated Hindalco after a meeting with Kumar Mangalam Birla; and allocation of Amarkonda Murgadangal block to Jindal Steel and Power (JSPL) in which former Minister of State (MoS) Dasari Narayan Rao was alleged to have received Rs 2.25 crore as camouflaged investment from one of Jindal’s firms.

Also, while the probe agency has alleged “misrepresentation of facts” in almost all the cases filed so far, a case of alleged overturning of screening committee’s recommendation has emerged for the first time in the 14 th FIR. According to CBI, the Screening Committee headed by Parakh recommended allocation of Talabira II to NLC rejecting Hindalco’s application but later recommended the allocation of the block to Hindalco after a meeting between Parakh and Birla.

Similarly, the term “competent authority”, to refer to the final decision-making entity, has been used by the CBI for the first time in any of its FIRs filed so far. While, the term has lent itself to many interpretations, Parakh has said the decision was finally approved by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in his capacity as the Cabinet minister for coal.