| Date: |
12-03-2015 |
| Subject: |
HC seeks Mahagenco’s reply in coal scam |
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NAGPUR: The Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court on Wednesday directed Mahagenco to file reply within two weeks on Rs29,000 crore coal scam and how much it cost to the exchequer. The court's directives came while hearing a PIL by Anil Wadpalliwar through counsel Shrirang Bhandarkar. The petitioner alleged that due to ongoing tussle between WCL and Mahagenco all consumers were unnecessarily being forced to shell out more for power.
Earlier, petitioner informed the court about massive scam unearthed by Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) that hinted at nexus between coal suppliers and bigwigs of state run power companies. The report alleged how top officials inflated value of coal imported from Indonesia for power plants and were stashing the kickbacks received in these deals abroad.
Initial estimates by DRI pegged the overvaluation at Rs29,000 crore during 2011-14. DRI conducted raids on over 80 shipping companies, intermediaries and laboratories across the country for obtaining documents that show the real value of imports. Even the laboratories testing coal were searched for lab reports to verify the calorific value of the imported coal.
The DRI is also probing role of some public sector companies that allegedly have indulged into overvaluation of imported coal. Petitioner contended that the power tariff would be less if the value of imported coal was not inflated.
Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com
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