MODI'S POST VERDICT COAL POLITICS!

30-9-2014 12.50PM IST

Medhaj News: During his US visit, in an unprecedented churn, Modi made a statement that marks a shift in Indian economic indices. Modi said that he would use the Coalgate verdict to clean up the past.

Moving the action from the rapturous outdoors to a boardroom in a hotel, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday met 11 top chief executives of America Inc and promised them he that would convert the Supreme Court judgment on coal blocks into an opportunity to move forward.

This reference to the recent court decision aims to address concern among foreign companies about choppy decision-making and sluggish reforms in India's business sphere. Modi invited the CEOs to invest in India's key sectors, including infrastructure.

One chief executive said it was heartening for them to see Modi look upon the recent coal allocation case as an opportunity for revamping the sector. The group of CEOs are said to have candidly listed the hurdles they had in the past while working on collaborations or taking forward specific industrial projects and investments in India.

The Supreme Court last week quashed allocation of 214 out of 218 coal blocks alloted to various companies since 1993 terming it as “fatally flawed”. Modi's observation comes against the backdrop of concerns that the judgment would have an adverse impact on corporate sentiment and overall business climate.

The allocation of coal blocks happened back in Congress' government but the cancelation of allocation was done in Modi's government. Also, the people to whom coal blocks were allocated were close to a fraction of Congress, like Vedanta was close to P.Chidambaram.

But after Modi coming up with this statement, the concern of Indians revolve around the political economy of Modi's policies.

Whether it will lead to cleaning of crony capitalism or will it replace the old ones with new? Are the real entrepreneurs going to benefit? Or foreign players are going to dominate the coal sector?