Pranab writes to PM on 2G developments

As the 2G fire rages, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has written a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh setting out in detail the events surrounding the controversial allocation of spectrum.

The letter comes in the midst of a controversy triggered by the surfacing of a note from a Finance Ministry official suggesting that 2G scam could have been avoided by the then Finance Minister P Chidambaram if had insisted of auction instead of giving licences on 2001 prices.

As Mukherjee, who had met the Prime Minister in New York on Sunday, wrote the letter, Chidambaram met Singh on his return from the US today.

Mukherjee, who returned to the capital from Kolkata late in the night, told reporters that "the correspondence between the Prime Minister and Ministers, I consider, are confidential".

The letter is understood to have detailed the various meetings held on the subject of allocation of 2G spectrum, the correspondence between various ministries and the events leading to the decision.

However, sources said Chidambaram was present at a lunch hosted by Singh for former British Prime Minister Tony Blair in which a number of others were present. There was no private meeting between the two, they said.

Mukherjee was unlikely to meet the Prime Minister, who will go to Sikkim tomorrow for a survey of the earthquake-affected areas. The meeting may take place on Friday before Mukherjee leaves for Kolkata.

He will be away from Delhi from October 1 to 6 during which period he would be in his home town for the Durga puja festivities.