New Delhi, March 12
Reacting to the special
CBI court summons to industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla as an accused in
the coal scam case, Indian Inc. on Thursday cautioned about its
repercussions "on overall investor sentiment".
"While we have the
highest regard for the judicial process, such developments do have a
bearing on the overall investor sentiment," the Federation of Indian
Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) secretary general A. Didar
Singh said in a statement here.
"At a time when the government is
making all efforts to create a transparent, efficient and equitable
regime for investments such developments tend to create a needless trust
deficit between industry, government and society," he added.
The
Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on Wednesday said such orders
can create "uncertainty and anxiety among investors" and dissuade them
from investing in the country.
"It is our belief that Birla
represents the progressive face of Indian industry, which does not
indulge in crony capitalism and carries out his businesses by the book,"
CII said.
Expressing concern about the trial court order against
Hindalco relating to the allocation of Talabira-II and III coal block
in Odisha, CII added: "Creation of an atmosphere of uncertainty sends a
wrong signal to investors."
Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh,
Birla and former coal secretary P.C. Parakh were summoned as accused
by a special CBI court, which observed that the former prime minister
was roped into the criminal conspiracy to accommodate Hindalco in the
Talabira-II block allocation in 2005.
Hindalco on Wednesday
denied that any of its officials had pursued any unlawful or
inappropriate means to secure allocation of the Talabira block.
"Hindalco
reiterates that none of its officials, including its chairman Kumar
Mangalam Birla, have pursued any unlawful or inappropriate means for
securing the allocation of the coal block," the company said in a
statement.
Hindalco said it "cooperated with investigating
authorities completely during the course of investigation" and was
confident that it would "stand vindicated at the end of the ongoing
legal process".
Aditya Aluminium Project, for which this
allocation was made, has been implemented by the company at an
investment of over Rs.13,000 crore.
"The plant is already
operational even though Talabira-II and III coal block could not become
operational for want of clearances. Consequently, Hindalco is having to
suffer irrecoverable financial stress," the company said.
Friday
will see the close of the second round of e-auctions of cancelled coal
blocks. The auctions follow the Supreme Court's decision in September
last to cancel the allocation of 204 coal mines allocated between 1993
and 2010.
