By IANS,
New Delhi : Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Monday said allegations of impropriety in coal block allocations were baseless and unsupported by facts.
Calling the observations of the CAG clearly “disputable”, the prime minister said: “I wish to say that any allegations of impropriety are without basis and unsupported by the facts.”
Taking responsibility of decisions taken by the coal ministry, Singh said: “I want to assure honourable members that as the minister in charge, I take full responsibility for the decisions of the ministry.”
He sought to make a statement in the Lok Sabha on the controversial coal block allocation but the din raised by Bharatiya Janata Party members demanding his resignation drowned out his voice.
The prime minister then tabled his speech in the house. The Lok Sabha was later ordered adjourned till 2 p.m.
The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) had earlier this month said in its report that lack of transparency in the allocation of coal blocks to private players resulted in a loss of a whopping Rs.1.85 lakh crore ($37 billion) to the exchequer as on March 11 last year.