Coal Scam has rocked Indian parliament as this scam is considered to be the biggest among all the scams.

Listing below some very important points relating to coal scam that i extracted from various sources 1)
According to the latest report from CAG it is estimated that private companies got a windfall profit of $34 billion because of the low prices they paid for the coal blocks allocated to them. But important point to be noticed is that the earlier draft of the report that had been leaked to the Indian media claimed the government had lost nearly $210 billion from the coal allocations. The auditor said it had lowered the amount after subtracting the profits that accrued to government-owned companies and accounting only for the profits made by open cast mines. The auditor did not explain the reason for leaving out the profits made by underground mines. According to a report, earlier prepared by Timesof India, the below picture shows the distribution of profits to all the private and public companies

The auditors said the allocations were made on the recommendation of state governments. They tried to exonerate Prime Minister Manmohan Singh even though he was running the coal ministry part of that period under review. The average allotment of coal blocks was 3-4 per year until a few years back. But this number shot up drastically to 22-24 during 2006-09 when Dr. Singh was in charge, raising questions about the manner in which these allotments were made. All the allotments were made without transparency, without protecting the interest of public exchequer, and without any competitive process. While the amendment to ensure coal allocation by auction remained in abeyance because of the Dr. Singhs interventions as head of the Cabinet and in-charge of the coal ministry, 24 blocks were allocated in 2005, 53 in 2006, 52 in 2007, 24 in 2008 and 16 in 2009. Interestingly, post-amendments, only one coal block was allocated in 2010, and not even one in 2011. Obviously there was a rush for coal blocks allocated under the old, non-competitive, system. As on June 2004, only 39 coal blocks stood allocated. "But since July 2004, 155 coal blocks were allocated to government and private parties following the existing process.
2) It said the problems of granting coal rights for free instead of inviting bidders had been raised

as far back as June 2004 when coal officials had discussed the potential for private groups to make windfall profits. Since then, a new policy had been repeatedly delayed and 142 coal blocks had been allocated to various large firms, including Essar Power, Tata Steel and Jindal Steel and Power.

3) Another important noteworthy point is that the licenses are given to those companies that can start operation in maximum 6 month period. This provision is in law to avoid use of coal production for the personal gain of companies. But private companies that have obtained coal blocks from the government arent bringing them online fast enough. Of the 200-odd coal mines companies have been allocated since 2006, less than 30 are in operation now, industry analysts say, highlighting that somethings terribly wrong.
4)

All this is happening despite India facing a severe shortage of coal to fuel its power sector. Last month, more than 600 million people in the country went without power for hours after the electricity grid collapsed, plunging northern, eastern and northeastern India into darkness. Starved of coal supplies, India's power companies now are looking at importing coal from Indonesia and Australia. 5) Here is what another sites reports on what can be done with this huge loss to exchequer.