Shourie denies allegations of loss in Centaur sell-off

Giving his reaction on the issue while talking to reporters, Shourie said that he would take up the issue with the cabinet secretary and CAG to ensure that in future such recurrence do not occur. Shourie said that he had no problems with any probe by anyone on the matter. The minister said that the disinvestment process followed by the government was time-tested and had been upheld by the Supreme Court in Balco sale deal. Reacting to the allegations by CPM and Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Nirupam, Shourie said it was ironic that “we swallow or vomit allegations.”

While expressing shock over the CAG not asking the ministry for comments on the draft paragraph before finalising the report, Shourie conceded that the CAG had sent a draft paragraph to AAI about the sale of Centaur hotel in Mumbai to Batra Hospitality but added that his ministry had no knowledge about it.

Meanwhile, CPM Polit Bureau member Sitaram Yechury had earlier told reporters that the CAG report had “revealed” a loss of Rs 145.69 crore in revenue “because of undercharging of lease rent and reduction of turnover levy in the sale process”. Quoting the CAG report, he said that the two bids for the hotel were restricted virtually to one bidder who was alleged to be close to the Sangh parivar. Reacting to this, Shourie said that four bidders were in the final race which included India Hotels and ITC. Hence the question of one being chosen due to his closeness with a particular political party did not arise at all. Elaborating on the forthcoming IPOs as a part of the disinvestment process, Shourie added that the scrips which would hit the market are strong scrips and the issues are expected to do well.