Birla: Not worried about FIR; no impact on bank licence

Kumar Mangalam Birla,who is under the CBI scanner met finance minister P Chidambaram and said he is not worried by the FIR.

Aditya Birla group chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla,who is under the CBI scanner for alleged irregularities in coal block allocation,on Friday met finance minister P Chidambaram and said he is not worried by the FIR.

In his first public comments since the inquiry against him was started,Birla said,As of now,I am not worried about it (the FIR). There is nothing wrong that has been done. So why should one worry?

However,he said that he did discuss the issue with the finance minister. I,obviously,brought this up with the finance minister. So many other things to talk about as work goes on. We are in so many other industries. There are so many other things to discuss with him, he told reporters.

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The CBI had on Tuesday booked Birla along with former coal secretary PC Parakh on charges of criminal conspiracy and corruption in connection with alleged irregularities in the allocation of two coal blocks eight years ago.

The meeting comes soon after the finance minister returned to India from his week-long US visit. The billionaire industrialist is understood to have also met revenue secretary Sumit Bose.

Birla also expressed hope that the investigations will not cast a shadow on the groups application for a bank permit. I dont think CBI FIR will impact the banking licence, he said. Aditya Birla Nuvo Ltd is one of 25-odd applicants shortlisted by the RBI for a banking licence.

The permit will also depend on candidates fulfilling the RBIs fit and proper criteria that also include feedback from enforcement agencies like the CBI and Enforcement Directorate.

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