Playing ball after scam: Naik gets his PSUs to pump Rs 4 cr for Priya

According to the order sent to the heads of 12 oil-sector PSUs, a copy of which is with The Sunday Express, the Ministry has specified the amount that each has to cough up — half ‘‘initially’’ and the balance by March 31.
• ONGC: Rs 1 crore
• Indian Oil Corporation: Rs 60 lakh
• Hindustan Petroleum, Bharat Petroleum, Gas Authority and Oil India: Rs 40 lakh each
• Chennai Petroleum, Kochi Refineries, Numaligarh Refineries, Engineers India and IBP: Rs 15 lakh each
• Balmer Lawrie: Rs 5 lakh

In return, the AIFF will call the competition ‘‘Oil PSU Cup’’ and these firms can put up their ads and banners at the venues. The tournament, the seventh in the series, kicked off in Goa yesterday and matches are scheduled for Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Punjab and Chennai until March 31.

This Naik-Dasmunshi deal was struck before the paperwork started. In a letter to Petroleum Secretary B K Chaturvedi, Dasmunshi said he had been ‘‘advised by Honourable Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Ram Naik over phone’’ and wanted the bureaucrat to ‘‘work out the modalities and the details of the sponsorship.’’

Dasmunshi was unavailable for comment but Naik, when contacted, said: ‘‘Initially I had approved Rs 50 lakh but Mr Dasmunshi requested for more. We approved it after a review.’’ When told it was Dasmunshi who had asked for his resignation over the petrol pump scam, he said: ‘‘Sports and politics don’t mix. Last year, we gave over Rs 2 crore for the national games in Punjab. This time we will give Andhra Pradesh Rs 2.5 crore.’’

The Ministry’s order has caught most of the heads of the PSUs—including those of the five navratanas—by surprise. BPCL chief S Behuria and GAIL chief P Banerjee said they were ‘‘not aware of the order.’’ Senior officials of IOC, IBP and ONGC, who did not wish to be named, said the same thing.

One industry official said each oil company would have to get the funding approved by its board of directors as the amount exceeds Rs 7.5 lakh. No one’s guessing what the board will do. As for Naik’s strident opposition to the disinvestment of BPCL and HPCL, he can count on Dasmunshi to play ball—literally.