CAG reports on coal blocks allocation, Delhi airport to be tabled in current parliamentary session

The much awaited CAG reports on coal blocks allocation and GMR-run Delhi Airport would be tabled in parliament during the current session, finance minister P Chidabaram said today.

"The CAG reports were received in the ministry of finance on May 11. 12th and 13th were Saturday (Sunday), so it was put up to the finance minister on 14 May and we approved sending of the reports to the president," he told reporters in New Delhi.

"The reports were sent on May 16, it was received back from the office of the president on May 26 at 2:30 pm, by that time the house was in the process of being adjourned, therefore it was not laid on the table of the house at the end of the last session," he said.
Chidambaram replied in the affirmative on being asked whether the reports would be tabled in this session.

"This morning we have issued notice to both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha requesting the speaker and the chairman to fix a date to lay the reports on the table of both the houses simultaneously, once they give us a date we will lay all the three reports. There is no delay at all," he added.

The comptroller and auditor general is expected to peg the value of undue benefits on allocation of coal blocks between 2004 and 2009 without auction, that the government passed on to private entities alone at more than Rs1.8 lakh crore.

According to the draft CAG report on coal allocation the undue benefits extended to Reliance Power, by way of surplus coal allocation for two of its Ultra Mega Power Projects (UMPPs) was Rs15,849 crore.

According to the draft report the benefit to Reliance Power from surplus allocation for the Sasan UMPP was at Rs 4,875 crore.
CAG has further revealed that Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL), which operates the Delhi airport in partnership with the Airports Authority of India, was losing vast amounts of revenue through under-utilisation of land granted to it at concessional rates.