New Delhi, Aug 17: Prime Minister of India Dr Manmohan Singh has been cornered by the opposition parties led by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Following the Comptroller and auditor General (CAG) report on coal scam, BJP raised voice against the PM demanding his immediate resignation.

The CAG report has been tabled in the Parliament on Friday, Aug 17. According to the reports, the nation faced a total loss of Rs 1.85 lakh crore because coal fields were allotted to private companies instead of being auctioned.

"This is not just a scam, it's a case of murder and loot. We would like an answer from the prime minister," said BJP leader Sushma Swaraj and also added, "UPA's term has been full of scams and each scam is bigger than the previous one. This time even the PM is involved. He was the minister in-charge."

The CAG report did not indict the prime minister office (PMO) but CAG scrutinised the period between 2005 to 2009 when Manmohan Singh was the coal minister.

The CAG report named 25 companies including Essar Power, Hindalco, Tata Steel, Tata Power and Jindal Steel and Power which have got the blocks in various states.

"Delay in introduction of the process of competitive bidding has rendered the existing process beneficial to the private companies. Audit has estimated financial gains to the tune of Rs 1.86 lakh crore likely to accrue to private coal block allottees," CAG said in a report on allocation of coal blocks.

The CAG said it has arrived at the estimates based on the average cost of production and average sale price of opencast mines of Coal India in the year 2010-11. "A part of this financial gain could have accrued to the national exchequer by operationalising the decision taken years earlier to introduce competitive bidding for allocation of coal blocks," CAG said.

However, the PMO and other concerned government officials rejected to accept the report and also refused to pay heed on the demand raised by the opposition. No comment from Manmohan Singh has come yet.

OneIndia News