Something 'fishy' about BJD supporting coal auctioning:Yechury

Senior CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechury today said there was something 'fishy' about BJD supporting MMDR (Amendment) Bill in Parliament and the auctioning of coal after earlier being opposed to both.
It was surprising that BJD supported the measures despite knowing that Odisha was bound to lose by the present coal auctioning route, Yechury alleged.
Talking to reporters, he said, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had earlier opposed the bill, saying that Odisha would lose considerably if coal auctioning took place.
Patnaik had even written a letter to the Prime Minister in this regard, he said and wondered why and under what circumstances BJD changed its position.

"BJD's action shows there is something fishy," the CPI-M leader said.
Yechury's remarks came hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while addressing a meeting in Rourkela, thanked Naveen Patnaik for supporting MMDR (Amendment) Bill in Parliament.

Yechury, however, claimed that mineral rich states would not get proper benefit from the present route of auctioning.
The state is set to earn only around Rs 19,000 crore by reverse auctioning of Mandakini and Utkal C coal blocks in Odisha, he claimed, adding if positive auctioning had been opted, it would have gained Rs 2,00,000 crore.
Slamming Odisha Government for high power tariff rates in the state, the CPI-M leader said the Naveen Patnaik government should give an explanation regarding the tariff structure.

While power tariff up to 400 units in coal rich Odisha is Rs 3.68, per unit of electricity in the same range is only Rs 2.24, he said.
Stating that Odisha would have benefited immensely through value addition, Yechury said private companies are set to make huge profits from the reverse auction route.
On the Land Acquisition Bill, the CPI-M leader said the bill did not get through Rajya Sabha due to opposition from around 40 political parties.
Though BJD also opposed the bill, it would not be surprising if the regional party took a u-turn as it did in case of coal auctioning, he said.