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UPA Coal official admitted: Govt went out of its way to accommodate Hindalco

Among the evidence collected by the CBI on the Hindalco case is a revealing file noting by the then Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Coal. Following a meeting on June 26, 2006, the year after the block in Orissa was allocated to Hindalco, K S Kropha recorded: “It should be appreciated that the government had gone out of the way to accommodate Hindalco in Talabira II.”

This file, and an internal letter between top officials of the Aditya Birla Group which owns Hindalco, form a key part of the evidence that has today been called for examination by the Special Court that is hearing the CBI’s closure report filed in the allocation case.
In the letter dated January 20, 2005, Shubhendu Amitabh, who is now the Group Executive President of the Aditya Birla Group, wrote to D Bhatacharya, Managing Director of Hindalco: “We are of the opinion that we need to focus on both, polity and bureaucracy. We request you to indicate a time-frame at the earliest when a meeting with Secretary, Coal Mr Parakh can be organised here in Delhi. As regards polity, shall look forward to discussing with you over the phone.”

The file noting and the internal letter were among the documents seized by the CBI during searches conducted on the premises of the Aditya Birla Group on October 16, 2013, and those received from the Coal Ministry.

According to the agency, Amitabh’s letter assume significance since it was written after a meeting of the Ministry’s Screening Committee on the block allocation on January 10, 2005. It was followed by written submissions given by the group’s Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla to then Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and then Coal Secretary, P C Parakh.

In his noting, Joint Secretary Kropha also wrote: “Considering the special circumstances under which Hindalco was made a partner in the JV. This matter has also drawn public attention and it will be in interest of Hindalco to conclude the JV without any further delay…”
Also among the evidence collected by CBI are documents seized by the Income Tax Department from the Aditya Birla Management Corporation Limited (ABMCL) office.

In October 2013, shortly after the CBI filed an FIR against Hindalco in the case, I-T officials had recovered an amount of Rs 25 crore in cash the ABMCL office. Tax officials had also recovered documents and diaries that listed partly coded receipts of undeclared payments.
The files in the CBI’s case record also include notes from Hindalco officials which state that following the Supreme Court’s verdict in the 2G scam, ministry officials were not “willing to budge” from their stated position and were “asserting their authority” on allocation of natural resources, including coal reserves.

In these notes, company officials reiterate that they needed to build “long lasting relationships” with key players in ministries and “network” with the polity and bureaucracy, and target young bureaucrats from the “future perspective.”

When contacted by The Indian Express for a reaction, a Hindalco spokesperson said it was “inappropriate to respond” as the matter was “sub-judice”.

Source: Indian Express