Roadmap for coal block allocations after final verdict of Supreme Court: Government

NEW DELHI: As Supreme Court today reserved its order on coal-block allocations, the government said it would wait for its final verdict in order to move ahead in a transparent manner.

"It was my and Hansraj Ahir's complaint which resulted in the CBI inquiry into the coal scam. The issue is that the court has reserved the decision. It is their wisdom that they have decided to do so. Government has already clarified in the courts that it is ready to accept any decision given by them.

"We want to take the matter ahead with a transparent mechanism. That is why we are waiting for the final decision. We want finality to come sooner rather than later," Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar told reporters on the sidelines of an awards function here.

Supreme Court today reserved its order on the fate of 218 coal-block allocations which it has held to be illegal.

While the Centre has advocated the cancellation of these coal-blocks, the allottees themselves have blamed the government for the irregularities and demanded that a committee be set up to go into each allocation.

Javadekar said the government believes that the business of coal remains "white" and does not become "black" if it is conducted in a transparent manner.

In the apex court, various stakeholders, including Coal Producers' Association, Sponge Iron Manufacturers' Association and Independent Power Producers' Association of India along with some private entities, opposed the government's stand against the setting up of any committee to look into the consequences of the August 25 decision.

They deprecated the Centre's stand that "cancellation of the coal-block allocations is a natural consequence of the judgement" and said that such a thing would lead to total disaster and ultimate cause problems for the people, especially in the rural areas, who are already grappling with a power crisis.