State-owned Steel Authority of India (SAIL) neither applied technical due diligence nor conducted techno-commercial study to assess viability before the allotment of its captive coal blocks at Parbatpur and Sitanala, audit report no 18 of 2020 of Comptroller and Auditor General of India (C&AG) said today. These two blocks, which had to be subsequently surrendered, hence resulted in the amount spent on development of the same infructuous, examined the audit. The audit released today examined records of all captive mines of SAIL for the period 2014-19 to assess the management of captive mines and compliance with safety and environmental laws. The report pointed out that since the company’s iron ore production level, at Dalli, Rajhara and Barsua mines were lower than planned, it resulted in transfer of the key raw material from distantly located mines by the Bhilai Steel Plant and Rourkela Steel Plant leading to extra expenditure on freight differential.