By IANS,
New Delhi : De-allocation of 22 coal blocks has not affected production in thermal power plants, Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal Tuesday told parliament.
“No production has been affected,” Jaiswal told the Lok Saba during question hour.
He, however, conceded that the country was facing shortage of coal, and that there was a mismatch in the ratio of coal being produced and new power projects being set up.
Replying to a supplementary question, Jaiswal said several companies have moved courts against de-allocation of coal blocks and the government would file counter affidavits to defend its action.
To a query by Bharatiya Janata Party member Rajnath Singh, the minister agreed that 27 files of the ministry relating to coal block allocation between 1993 and 2004 could not be provided to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) team investigating the coal scam.
He said the files could not be “located” and efforts were on to trace them. He said the CBI has been provided with 740 files to help in its investigation.