New Delhi ( CNN ) -- India 's scandal-tainted government has come under fresh attack from opposition parties after a leading newspaper ran a front-page report alleging that auditors had found that the awarding of coal fields to private companies had deprived the treasury of $ 211 billion . As lawmakers from across the spectrum of opposition parties criticized Prime Minister Manmohan Singh 's administration over the Times of India story on Thursday , his office issued excerpts of a letter to him from the federal auditor that described the news report as `` exceedingly misleading . '' One of the country 's most respected dailies , the Times of India cited what it said were the Comptroller and Auditor General ( CAG ) 's draft estimates from the awarding of 155 coal blocks to some 100 firms without auction between 2004 and 2009 . The newspaper said the government had allocated areas for coal production to commercial operators without putting them up for competitive auction . According to the CAG 's calculations , the newspaper said , the authorities sold the rights to the mining areas for much less than they were worth , passing on `` undue benefits '' to the companies . The report claimed the loss to the government was six times the size of the amount lost by the allotment of telecommunications frequencies in 2008 at below market value . The telecommunications scandal , the result of a CAG report , put tremendous pressure on Singh 's government , leading to the resignations of top officials and fueling a powerful grassroots protest movement against corruption . But the national auditor said the report on the coal blocks misrepresented its findings . `` The details being brought out were observations which are under discussion at a very preliminary stage and do not even constitute our pre-final draft and hence are exceedingly misleading , '' read a portion of the CAG 's letter made public by the prime minister 's office . `` The leak of the initial draft causes great embarrassment as the audit report is still under preparation . Such leakage causes very deep anguish , '' it read . The letter came after opposition leaders sought a discussion in parliament over what they claimed to be a huge scandal . `` This is the worst scam , '' said Prakash Javadekar , spokesman for the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party . `` This government has lost , forfeited its right to continue in power , '' he said . Left-wing politicians were equally scathing in their reaction . `` It is a serious scam , a very big scam . In fact , all these scams are taking place because of the wrong policies pursued by the government , favoring all corporate houses , big business houses in the country , '' said D. Raja , a leader in the Communist Party of India . He asked why the government had not awarded the coalfields through an auction process . A lawmaker from the Communist Party of India ( Marxist ) , Sitaram Yechury , called for a wide-ranging investigation . Before releasing the letter from the CAG , the government issued cautious comments on the matter . `` I can not comment on the basis of newspaper reports , until I have the actual report ( of the CAG ) , '' said Coal Minister Sri Prakash Jaiswal . He insisted that no coal blocks had been granted during the second term of Singh 's government , which began in 2009 . `` If the CAG has raised any objections over any such allocations before that , we will be able to make a comment only after studying them , '' Jaiswal said . Singh 's government has been hit by a series of corruption allegations , including a damning 2010 CAG report about the underselling of the cell phone permits . It put the cost to the government coffers of that affair at around $ 31 billion dollars in lost revenues . The telecommunications licenses issued under the sale have since been revoked by the Supreme Court . A number of politicians , bureaucrats and company executives are facing trial after the telecommunications scandal shook the government . All the defendants have denied any wrongdoing . Singh 's Congress Party , headed by Italian born Sonia Gandhi , paid a political price this month when it suffered a heavy defeat in a key regional vote . Seen as a litmus test for the popularity of the national coalition , the recent elections in India 's most populous state , Uttar Pradesh , gave a decisive majority to a provincial grouping . That was despite a rigorous campaign by the Congress Party to try to revive its fortunes in the region .
An audit found billions in lost revenue from coal field allocations , says Indian paper . The auditor says the newspaper report is `` exceedingly misleading '' The government has already been damaged by a cell phone license scandal . `` This is the worst scam , '' says an opposition leader .