CBI registers 13th FIR in Coalgate; Delhi company booked

CBI sources said Rathi Steel and Power Limited, its Chief Executive Officer Udit Rathi and some others have been booked for alleged criminal conspiracy, cheating and for offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act.u00a0

"It is alleged that the Delhi based private Steel and Power company misrepresented on account of stage of preparedness in terms of possession of land to get the coal block. It is also alleged that the company was favoured for allocation of coal block over other better placed applicants," CBI spokesperson said.

The company in its application had claimed that it was in possession of 250 acres of land whereas it had only 150 acres of land, the sources said.

CBI also alleged that the company had proposed to have 0.75 million tonnes per annum capacity for their steel plant, for which block was sought, whereas when it was allocated the capacity remained unutilised, the sources said.

The company was allocated Kesla North coal block in Korba, Chhattisgarh on August 5, 2008. This is the 13th FIR in connection with the coal blocks allocation scam probe.

Soon after registering the FIR, CBI teams carried out searches at the premises of the company in Delhi, Ghaziabad and Sambalpur in Odisha.

The company was not available for comments. CBI is probing alleged irregularities in the allocation of 192 coal blocks which were made between 1993 to 2011.

The agency has registered three preliminary enquiries in this connection--related to allocation between 2006-09, allocation between 1993 to 2004 and allocations to joint ventures.u00a0