Coal Allocation Scam or Coalgate: A Political Scandal
1. Coal allocation scam
Coal allocation scam or Coalgate, is a political scandal concerning the Indian government's allocation of the nation's coal deposits to public sector entities (PSEs) and private companies by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. In a draft report issued in March 2012, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) office accused the Government of India of allocating coal blocks in an inefficient manner during the period 2004–2009. Over the Summer of 2012, the opposition BJP lodged a complaint resulting in a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into whether the allocation of the coal blocks was in fact influenced by corruption.
The essence of the CAG's argument is that the Government had the authority to allocate coal blocks by a process of competitive bidding, but chose not to. As a result both public sector enterprises (PSEs) and private firms paid less than they might have otherwise. In its draft report in March the CAG estimated that the "windfall gain" to the allocatees was INR|10,67,303|crores.
Accused:
Many UPA politicians and private companies like Castron mining, Field mining etc
2. Coal allocation
The 2G spectrum scam involved politicians and government officials in India illegally undercharging mobile telephony companies for frequency allocation licenses, which they would then use to create 2G subscriptions for cell phones. The shortfall between the money collected and the money that the law mandated to be collected is estimated to be 1766.45 billion (US$32 billion), as valued by the Controller and Auditor General of India based on 3G and BWA spectrum auction prices in 2010. However, the exact loss is disputed. In a charge sheet filed on 2 April 2011 by the investigating agency, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the loss was pegged at 309845.5 million (US$5.7 billion)[2] whereas on 19 August 2011 in a reply to CBI, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) said that the government gained over 30 billion (US$550
Coal allocation scam or Coalgate, is a political scandal concerning the Indian government's allocation of the nation's coal deposits to public sector entities (PSEs) and private companies by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. In a draft report issued in March 2012, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) office accused the Government of India of allocating coal blocks in an inefficient manner during the period 2004–2009. Over the Summer of 2012, the opposition BJP lodged a complaint resulting in a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into whether the allocation of the coal blocks was in fact influenced by corruption.
The essence of the CAG's argument is that the Government had the authority to allocate coal blocks by a process of competitive bidding, but chose not to. As a result both public sector enterprises (PSEs) and private firms paid less than they might have otherwise. In its draft report in March the CAG estimated that the "windfall gain" to the allocatees was INR|10,67,303|crores.
Accused:
Many UPA politicians and private companies like Castron mining, Field mining etc
2. Coal allocation
The 2G spectrum scam involved politicians and government officials in India illegally undercharging mobile telephony companies for frequency allocation licenses, which they would then use to create 2G subscriptions for cell phones. The shortfall between the money collected and the money that the law mandated to be collected is estimated to be 1766.45 billion (US$32 billion), as valued by the Controller and Auditor General of India based on 3G and BWA spectrum auction prices in 2010. However, the exact loss is disputed. In a charge sheet filed on 2 April 2011 by the investigating agency, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the loss was pegged at 309845.5 million (US$5.7 billion)[2] whereas on 19 August 2011 in a reply to CBI, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) said that the government gained over 30 billion (US$550