Documents obtained by The Hindu show that the Union Coal Ministry was made aware as far back as July 2004 that flawed policies that allotted captive coal blocks rather than auctioning them would give unearned “windfall gains” to private parties.

A leaked draft report of the Comptroller and Auditor-General has reportedly estimated a loss of Rs. 10.67 lakh crore to the exchequer due to the government's failure to auction coal blocks.