A leaked draft report drawn up by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of
India suggests that
India has lost $210 billion from the sale of coalfields to about 100 private companies and state-run miners, according to international media reports. On the other hand, the CAG has reacted to the leak by calling details contained in the draft report "extremely misleading".
The CAG report on coal
mining said that the loss was incurred due to the sale of 155 coalfields without auctioning between 2004 and 2009. As a result of the leaked draft report, the share prices of major Indian steel companies such as JSW and JSPL have indicated a decrease.
However, the Indian Prime Ministry has published a letter from the CAG on its website. "The details being brought out were observations which are under discussion at a very preliminary stage and do not even constitute our pre-final draft and hence are exceedingly misleading." the letter reads.