Madhya Pradesh: UPA caused losses worth crores in coal, says Javadekar

Stating that Rs 80,000 crore has been raked in through auctioning of 14 coal blocks, Union environment minister Prakash Javadekar said on Friday the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government had caused losses worth crores of rupees

Stating that Rs 80,000 crore has been raked in through auctioning of 14 coal blocks, Union environment minister Prakash Javadekar said in Bhopal on Friday the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government had caused losses worth crores of rupees.

Environment-minister-Prakash-Javadekar-addresses-a-press-conference-in-Bhopal-on-Friday-Mujeeb-Faruqui-HT-photo

"...the government has auctioned just 14 and earned a revenue of Rs 80,000 crore. The UPA government ... 140 coal blocks and not a single penny came to the government coffers... which shows that the country had suffered loss in lakhs and crores," the minister said.

The UPA government had allotted coal mines through a screening committee.

Javadekar, after inaugurating a online forest tracking system and other IT applications related to forest and wildlife management here, also said half of the money generated through coal auctions will go to states like Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh among others which will ensure their proper development, he said.

"The UPA government had caused losses worth lakh and crores. We have done it in a proper and transparent manner, and generated so much revenue," he said.

Referring to Madhya Pradesh Professional Board Examination scam that rocked the state in 2013 and also charges recently levelled by Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh against chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, he said, "Congress is dejected, frustrated and marginalised in the state after suffering string of defeats."

"It has no issues with it. It is an attempt to defame Chouhan... as they are unable to face the popular chief minister, they are levelling false and baseless allegations against him."