No mass cancellation of allocations,says Jaiswal

Rejecting the Opposition demand for cancellation of all 57 coal block allocations mentioned in the CAG report,Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal on Thursday said en masse cancellation cannot be done but asserted that some allocations can be de-allocated if they failed to fulfil contractual obligations.

There is no question of mass cancellation of coal block allocations. The Inter Ministerial Group (IMG) that was set up to review the status of allocations is doing its job. The CBI is also investigating. Based on the recommendations of the IMG and the findings of the CBI,decision to cancel allocations will be taken, Jaiswal told The Indian Express.

The next meeting of the IMG,set up to review and decide on de-allocating the coal blocks,has been scheduled for September 3.

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The minister asserted that 14 out of the 57 coal blocks that were scrutinised by the CAG fell in dense forest areas that had been designated as no-go areas earlier and their allottees had already been asked to re-apply for fresh coal blocks. These 14 allottees have been given six months to get clearances from the Ministry of Environment and Forests, he said.

Jaiswal said the CBI had already been asked to probe all 57 allocations and his ministry has handed over the files to the investigating agency.