'BJD support to coal, MMDR bills hints at pact with BJP'

BHUBANESWAR: Senior leader of Communist Party of India (Marxist) Sitaram Yechury here on Wednesday slammed BJD president Naveen Patnaik for supporting the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2015, and the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Bill, 2015, in Parliament despite the regional party's initial protest.
"The Odisha chief minister had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi opposing the coal bill.The BJD had also opposed the mining ordinance in the Lok Sabha. What forced the party to change its mind and to support the bills?" he told a press conference here. "There must be some understanding between BJP and BJD which should be clarified either by the Odisha chief minister or Prime Minister," he added.
Stating that both the bills will have negative impact on the coal and mineral-bearing states, including Odisha, he said the state would have earned Rs 2 lakh crore had there been forward auction (ordinary auction) of Utkal-C and Mandakini coal block. "Due to reverse auction, the state would get only Rs 15,000 to 20,000 crore," he said.
In reverse auctions, the authority sets a ceiling price and bidders have to bid lower than that. The lowest bidder wins the auction.
The Monnet Power Company bagged the Utkal-C coal block, while the Mandakini Exploration and Mining, a joint venture between Monnet Ispat and Energy and Jindal India Thermal, bagged the Mandakini coal block in the state, official sources said.
The CPM leader also slammed the BJD government for not being part of the delegation led by Congress president Sonia Gandhi which submitted a memorandum to the President of India against the Land Acquisition Bill.