Nothing to hide on coal blocks: Narayanasamy

He did not comment on remarks of former coal secretary PC Parakh that it was Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who decided on the allocation of two Odisha coal blocks in 2005

The government had nothing to hide, and decisions on coal block allocations were taken on the basis of recommendations of state governments, Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office V Narayanasamy said Thursday.

Narayanasamy told reporters Thursday that it has been the stand of the government that allocations have been made to public sector undertakings and some private companies "on the recommendations of state governments where coal blocks were available".

"We have nothing to hide," he said.

Narayanasamy did not comment on remarks of former coal secretary PC Parakh that it was Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who decided on the allocation of two Odisha coal blocks in 2005, over which the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed a First Information Report (FIR) Tuesday.

"The matter is sub judice. It is being investigated by the CBI," the minister said.

The CBI Tuesday filed an FIR against Parakh and industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla for alleged irregularities and criminal conspiracy in the allocation of the two blocks.

Parakh said he did not know why the CBI thought Birla and he were in a conspiracy, when the person who took the decision was not part of it.

"If a conspiracy is there, everyone is part of the conspiracy. If we are accused, the PM is as much a part of the conspiracy," Parakh said.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Wednesday said that the prime minister should take "final responsibility" for irregularities in the allocation of coal blocks, and resign.