Jindal could be hauled over the coals

Sriprakash Jaiswal, Union coal minister, is a harried man these days.

Not only has he got to ensure that his party, the Congress, emerges unscathed from the coal scam, but he also has to act against one of his own, if need be, to keep his boss happy.

In an exclusive interview to DNA, he admitted that Sonia Gandhi, Congress president and UPA chairperson, was unhappy with him.
But he has his defence ready. His coal ministry will tighten the noose around fellow Congress MP Naveen Jindal’s company, JSPL (Jindal Steel & Power Ltd).

He will also write to the power ministry that companies such as JSPL should be stopped from earning super profits by selling power at exorbitant rates. JSPL is one of companies mentioned by the CAG as a beneficiary in the coal block allocation scam.

“It is a matter of concern that some companies have been selling power at high rates despite getting captive coal mines on the pretext that power produced from their plants would be sold cheap,” Jaiswal said. “I will ask the power ministry to regulate power tariff from such plants which also includes Jindal Power.”

He stressed that his ministry would not hesitate to cancel coal blocks of companies found guilty of misrepresenting facts in front of the screening committee for allocation of coal blocks. “Even operational plants would not be spared if found guilty.”

The CBI has registered FIRs against Vini Iron & Steel, Nav Bharat Steel, JLD Yavatmal, JAS Infrastructure and AMR Iron & Steel for suppressing facts about their companies at the time of allocation of coal blocks.

JLD Yavatmal has links with Congress MP Vijay Darda while Abhijeet Group has been linked to Jaiswal after a letter appeared in the media hinting at company promoters appointing Jaiswal as an arbitrator to resolve financial disputes within the company.

Jaiswal accepted that the promoters of Abhijeet Group had approached him three years ago to act as an arbitrator to resolve a family feud, but he maintained that he had refused the offer.
Defending prime minister Manmohan Singh, he accused state officials of misguiding the ministry at the time of allocation. “Our recommendations were based on what the state governments said,” he said. “Why are you questioning the PM’s role? His vision was 100% correct... The state governments are at fault. Which is why wrong companies got hold of the coal blocks.”