Did the govt make us poorer by Rs 10 trillion?

There is one aspect wherein the acumen of the Indian government has hardly any close match. It very consistently manages to beat all our expectations and keeps setting up new records. In case you haven't guessed it yet, we are referring to 'corruption scams'.

A leaked draft report of the Comptroller and Auditor General has yet again revealed something very disturbing. Reportedly, it states that between 2004 and 2009, the government gave away 155 coal acreages to private and public companies for five years. The biting aspect of this entire matter is that all this was done without a proper auctioning process. In the absence of auctions, it's obvious that the corporates managed to take hold of areas in which coal could be mined for dirt cheap prices. It is estimated that due to this the government exchequer lost about Rs 10.67 trillion (approximately US$ 210 bn). In layperson's languages, the country became poorer by that quantum. It is quite distressing to know of such happenings at a time when the country is facing a shortage of coal and paying a high price for it.

If this report is true, it just exposes how the government is sacrificing the wealth of the nation to narrow interests. A natural resource like coal legally belongs to the State on behalf of the citizens. It is unacceptable that such resources fall into private hands without appropriately compensating the citizens. A proper auction would have not just ensured transparency, but would have also made sure that the price paid is appropriate.

Whether the claims of this report are true or not is a different matter. But the fact remains that our government seldom works in the interest of the larger economy. By various means, it has time and again burned holes in the pockets of the country's taxpayers and investors. Sometimes it does so by milking cash-rich PSUs. Sometime it does so by bailing out ailing companies.

The way the government is taking the country for a ride is simply outrageous. Hence unless tax payers raise their voice against this gross misuse of our country's wealth and resources, such wealth destruction will prevail.