Modi to UPA: Where did money go?
Prime Minister Narendra Modi ( centre) with Sail chairman and MD C. S. Verma at the modernised and expanded Rourkela Steel Plant before its dedication to the nation in Orissa on Wednesday.
Rourkela, April 1: Terming the recent ` 2lakh crore coal auction as a major success, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said the previous UPA government should explain where did the money go when it had allocated 204 mines.
Mr Modi also said that the money from the auction would not go to the Centre’s coffers, but to the concerned states, including Orissa, while he asked the state government to focus on long- term development plans, and not on “the petty things that give instant benefits”.
The Prime Minister promised full support of the Centre for development of eastern states like Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and West Bengal, as he invoked Lord Jagganath during an over half- an- hour speech that he began in Oriya after dedicating to the nation a ` 12,000- crore expansion project of staterun SAIL’s Rourkela steel plant here.
“Where had the money gone when the previous government allocated as many as 204 coal mines? People at the helm then should now explain how the present government could mobilise ` 2 lakh crore out of auction of only 20 coal mines,” Mr Modi said while pointing out that the Central government stood for transparency. He was speaking at a meeting after dedicating the Rourkela steel plant’s ` 12,000- crore expansion project here.
Maintaining that coal has now been transformed into diamond, he said the present government put the coal mines for auction after the Supreme Court rejected allocation of 204 coal mines made earlier.
Mr Modi also recalled how he and others were not believing CAG report on reported loss of revenue to the tune of ` 1.76 lakh crore due to faulty coal block allocations made by the previous government. “Now, after mobilisation of ` 2 lakh crore by auction of 20 coal mines, I have reasons to believe the CAG report,” the PM said. — PTI