Decision to allocate coal blocks taken by Manmohan Singh: Ex-MoS Rao

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One of the prime accused in the Amarkonda Murgadangal coal block allocation case, former Minister of State for Coal Dasari Narayan Rao, has now said that decisions to allocate coal blocks were taken by then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who was also heading the Coal Ministry at that time.

“I was only the Minister of State. All powers for allocating coal blocks are of the Coal Minister and the then Coal Minister was Manmohan Singh. All the decisions were taken by the then Prime Minister Singh,” Rao told the media outside the Patiala House courts in Delhi.
Rao’s reaction came after he appeared before a special court in connection with the coal scam case along with Congress leader and industrialist Naveen Jindal and others.

The Coal Scam issue pertains to alleged irregularities in allocation of Amarkonda Murgadangal coal block to two Jindal group companies — Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) and Gagan Sponge Iron Pvt Ltd (GSIPL). Besides Rao, Jindal, former Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda and Director of Jindal Realty Pvt Ltd Rajeev Jain are among the 14 accused in the case.

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