Petroleum Minister Murli Deora on Tuesday insisted the Prime Minister's Office had not directed his ministry to allocate natural gas to companies run by family of Shipping Minister T R Baalu, breaking the government's silence over the issue.
Deora, who is likely to make a statement on the issue in Parliament on Wednesday, said PMO as a matter of procedure forwarded to his ministry requests from Kings Power and Kings Chemicals, two firms run by Baalu's family, for gas allocation.
"The Prime Minister had not told us to allocate gas... His office had not made any recommendations in anyone's favour," he said. Deora said requests received at PMO are routinely forwarded to concerned ministry for processing and the same was done in Baalu's case.
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