Bengaluru: Refuting the allegations of the BJP on the government receiving kickbacks from EMTA, a joint venture company it had formed to corner coal blocks, Energy Minister D K Shivakumar claimed on Tuesday that the state had only acted on the instructions given years ago by the Vajpayee government at the Centre.
Speaking to reporters here, Mr Shivakumar said the last NDA government had asked six state governments to enter into an MoU with EMTA for mining coal. But the coal block allotments were quashed by the Supreme Court and the state government was forced by its order to pay the full penalty although it only had a 26 per cent stake in the joint venture, he maintained.
“We paid up as the state was losing Rs 500 crore a month by keeping the coal blocks idle,” he said, adding “I feel sorry for Mr Yeddyurappa, a former Chief Minister, who is aspiring to be Chief Minister again. When he makes an allegation it should shake everyone. But I am ready for any kind of probe into this issue, whether by SIT or the CBI.”
Denying the House committee report on power purchase during the BJP rule in the state had been leaked, the Minister claimed he himself was not aware of its contents.
