Coal auction to add Rs 3.45 lakh crore to government's kitty

Auction of coal blocks being done will bring Rs 3.45 lakh crore to the nation's kitty, the government said.

"Previous 2G auction enriched select few while current spectrum auction fetched Rs 1.09 lakh crore for the nation. Previous coal auction steeped in corruption. Now, the coal auction will bring Rs 3.45 lakh crore," the government said, which is publicising its work of two years.

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) had, in a report tabled in Parliament in 2012, pegged the notional loss to the national exchequer at Rs 1.86 lakh crore on account of improper allocation of coal mines done by the UPA government.

Investigating agencies like Central Bureau of Investigation and Enforcement Directorate are looking into the alleged irregularities in coal mines and second generation spectrum allocation that claimed to have caused loss worth several crores to the government exchequer.