Jena questions Naveen's silence on coal reverse auctions

Former Union minister and seasoned Congress leader Srikant Jena has hit out at chief minister Naveen Patnaik for being mute to the reverse auction procedure adopted for coal blocks of Odisha.

"Reverse auction of coal blocks is leading to a staggering revenue loss for Odisha. Though the chief minister initially opposed the process, he is now inexplicably mute on the issue. Is it only because of nagging fear of CBI probe? It is ironical that while the rest of the country will be lit up from Odisha's coal, the state will be deprived of revenue," said Jena who held the portfolios of chemicals & fertilisers and statistics & programme implementation in the UPA regime.

He lamented that the BJD backed the Coal Mines (Special Provisions Bill, 2015) in the Rajya Sabha and the chief minister kept mum on the matter to the detriment of state's interest.

The former minister said, reverse auction has already been completed in case of two coal blocks- Mandakini and Utkal-C. As per the estimates of the Coal secretary, auctioning of Mandakini would fetch the state Rs 19,000 crore while Utkal-C is expected to contribute Rs 9,000 crore. Had the forward auction mode be implemented for these two coal blocks, the state could have raked in a whopping Rs 2.5 lakh crore, he said.

"The same reverse auction method will be applied for seven more coal blocks in Odisha. There is loud rhetoric by the Centre that Odisha will gain tremendous revenue from coal block auctions. But the real facts are suppressed from the public. The benefit of the coal auctions will actually go to big industrial houses like Tata, Jindal and Adani," Jena asserted.

"Forward auction of coal blocks in Odisha can transform it into one of the leading states of the country. This will also help to provide free electricity to all for up to 200 units and also free power to the farmers," he added.

Jena said, the chief minister ought to oppose the reverse auctions. If needed, the state government can also appeal in the Supreme Court on the issue, he suggested.

Reacting to the recent power tariff hike in Odisha, Jena said, "The power tariff in Delhi is cheaper than Odisha though Delhi has no coal of its own and is importing power. In Delhi, consumers are paying Rs 2.15 a unit for up to 200 units and Rs 2.53 per unit in the 200-400 units slab. As opposed to this, people in Odisha would pay Rs 2.50 per unit for the first 50 units which goes up to Rs 4.49 a unit in the slab of 300-400 units."

The government is not recovering dues worth Rs 3,000 crore from the private companies that were previously engaged in electricity distribution and is needlessly burdening ordinary consumers and farmers with tariff hike, he rued.