Coal blocks contracts should be made public under RTI: Chhattisgarh panel

State information commission rejects state-owned power company's contention that the information won't serve public purpose.

The Chhattisgarh State Information Commission has ordered that the Mining Development and Operations Contract for coal blocks signed by the state power company should be made public. The commission rejected the state government-controlled power generation company’s contention that disclosing the MDO would serve no public purpose.

The commission passed its orders after the Chhattisgarh Rajya Vidyut Nigam Limited (CRVNL), the state-owned power generation company twice refused to share copy of the contract and government records pertaining to the formulation and acceptance of the MDO agreement.

CRVNL had signed an MDO contract with Adani Enterprises Limited and its 100 per cent subsidiary Gare