A brief history of Coalgate scam: From coal

nationalisation in 1973 to cancellation of

allocated coal blocks in 2014


New Delhi: Despite tremendous coal reserves in India, the country faces enormous
issues in power sector.

Indias 66% electricity is produced by coal-based thermal power plants. Coal deposits
available in India currently can suffice electricity production in the country for next 100
years. India is third largest coal producing nation in the world.

1973: Coal (back gold), major source of energy, was nationalised in India and Coal India
Ltd (CIL) was accorded sole rights to extract coal. However CIL has failed to supply
required quantities of coal by various sectors in the nation.

2004: UPA government decided that Coal India is incapable of producing sufficient
coal thus much coal blocks shall be allocated to private companies.

20062009: 75 coal blocks were allocated to private companies, while 70 blocks were
allocated to public companies.

17 August 2012: CAG (Comptroller Auditor General) submitted its report on coal
block allocation to the parliament.

21 August 2012: Government claimed that CAG report is just estimation and
questioned its accuracy and authenticity.

25 August 2012: Opposition demanded Prime Ministers resignation and interrupted
proceedings of Parliament.

27 August 2012: Prime Minister delivered his deposition in an attempt to save the
government.

29 August 2012: Kapil Sibal said that the allocation of coal blocks commenced during
the regime of NDA government.

30 August 2012: Sonia Gandhi challenged BJP to argue over Coalgate scam.

2 September 2012: CBI reached Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand to investigate the
matter.

3 September 2012: An Inter-Ministerial Group reviewed status of 58 coal blocks,
which both public and private firms failed to develop within stipulated time frame.

4 September 2012: CBI raided 30 locations in 10 cities and registered cases against 5
companies.

6 September 2012: A public interest litigation filed in Supreme Court demanded
cancellation of allocation of 194 coal blocks.

5 March 2013: CBI shared status report with Law Minister Ashwani Kumar and two
other senior officials.

12 March 2013: Supreme Court slammed CBI for this and directed the agency to not
share investigation report with the government.

19 April 2013: BJP demanded Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to resign.

23 April 2013: Standing committee on coal and steel said in its report that allocation
of coal blocks during 19932008 breached rules and regulations. Allocation of blocks
where production has not yet commenced shall be cancelled.

26 April 2013: CBI produced an affidavit and said that status report has been shared
with Law Minister Ashwani Kumar.

29 April 2013: CBI told the apex court that government has altered 20% of the original
report.

16 August 2013: Coal Minister Shriprakash Jaiswal told Parliament that critical files
pertaining to the investigation of coal block allocation during 19932004 went missing.

19 September 2013: CBI registered two cases pertaining to the missing files in the
investigation of Coalgate.

16 October 2013: CBI raided Kumar Mangalam Birlas company Hindalcos Delhi
office. 25 crore cash was seized by the agency.

17 October 2013: CBI registered FIR against industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla, his
company Hindalco and former coal secretary P C Parakh.

7 January 2014: CBI registered two new FIRs. BLA Industries and MD Anup
Agarwalla were taken in loop through first FIR. Anup Agarwalla is a senior BJP leader.
Second FIR was registered against Castron Mining and its Directors.

9 January 2014: Centre admits its mistake for the first time. Attorney General G E
Vahanvati told Supreme Court of India that the coal blocks were allocated with good
intention; however, something went wrong. There could have been a better way to work
to avoid what transpired.

Coal scam: Naveen Jindal questioned by CBI
NEW DELHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation on Thursday questioned Congress MP and
industrialist Naveen Jindal in connection with its investigation into alleged irregularities in the
allocation of coal blocks to his firms.
A CBI spokesperson only confirmed that a summons has been issued to Jindal asking him to
appear before it in the next couple of days. But insiders said Jindal had requested that he be
questioned on Thursday itself.
indal arrived at a CBI guest house, which was fixed as the venue instead of the agency's
headquarters, around 11 am and was there till 5 pm during which he was questioned about the
controversial allocation of a coal block to his company Jindal Steel and Private Ltd (JSPL), a
source said. CBI had assured the parliamentarian that it will not share the date or the time of the
questioning with the media. Manu Kapoor, director for external affairs at JSPL, said the
company was "committed to fully cooperate with the CBI".
The action comes more than three months after the agency registered an FIR on June 11
against Jindal and his company JSPL. The FIR alleges that JSPL and another group firm,
Gagan Sponge Iron Pvt Ltd, misrepresented facts to bag the Amarkonda Murgadangal coal
block in Jharkhand in 2008.

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