The allegations form the latest twist in a major corruption investigation that has probed various agencies in the alleged improper allocation of coal blocks between 2004 and 2009.

An ED official said Hindalco, a part of the Aditya Birla Group, its chairman KM Birla and former coal secretary PC Parakh had also been named as they were mentioned by the Central Bureau of Investigation in its first information report filed last year.

All companies under investigation by CBI for allegedly being beneficiaries in the coal block allocation scam have also been named by ED.

The move by ED comes hot on the heels of the CBI deciding to close several cases due to lack of evidence.

Officials said the ED case for now was largely a repeat of allegations in the FIR lodged by CBI and the same set of accused featured in both cases.

The ED alleges that Jindal Steel & Power and Gagan Sponge Iron misrepresented data to gain coal blocks.

There is also an alleged investment in a Hyderabad based firm, Sowbhagya Media, by a group linked to Jindal.

The ED believes it to be a payoff for alleged favours extended by the then coal minister Rao for allocating coal blocks to Jindal in Jharkhand in 2008.

A spokesman for Jindal Steel & Power told local media that the company was not aware of any such developments and was not in a position to comment.