Ranchi:
The BJP government in Chhattisgarh is on the defensive because of an alleged sweetheart deal struck between the government and a coal firm partly owned by one of its MPs.
The report by the government's auditor finds that the state lost over 1000 crores because coal fields were allotted at low rates to the only company that bid for mining rights. Records show that this company was SMS Infrastructure. Ajay Sancheti, a Rajya Sabha MP, and a close aide of BJP president Nitin Gadkari, is a partner in this company. Mr Gadkari lost his temper in Delhi today when asked about the report. Mr Sancheti was not available for comment but sources offering his defence say that when the lease for the coal fields was allotted, Mr Gadkari was not president and Mr Sancheti was not a member of the BJP national executive, so his company did not have any political clout.
The report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), which was tabled in the Chhattisgarh Assembly earlier this month, finds that the Chhattisgarh Mineral Development Corporation (CMDC), which is owned by the government, accepted "abnormally low rates" from the only company that bid for blocks of coal fields in Bhatgaon II Extension in the central part of the state.
The report finds fault with the evaluation and acceptance of the bid. The auditor says that government officials should have either extended the deadline for receiving bids, or rebooted the process to invite fresh bids "to generate fair competition instead of justifying the low rate quoted by the lone bidder."
The President of Chhattisgarh Mineral Development Corporation, Gauri Shankar Agarwal finds the report incorrect and says the losses it highlights are "fictitious."