HYDERABAD: Expressing disappointment at Union Minister for Coal and Mines Prahlad Joshi’s announcement in the Lok Sabha that the Centre was going to auction coal blocks of Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL), Minister KT Rama Rao on Thursday warned that a massive people’s movement will be launched if the Centre went ahead with its plans.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently assured the people that Singareni would not be privatised. However, the Centre has announced in the Lok Sabha that four coal blocks of SCCL will be auctioned,” the minister said.
Describing Singareni as the lifeline of the socioeconomic prosperity of Telangana, Rama Rao said that its privatisation, at a time it was generating profits and has the best Plant Load Factor (PLF) in the country, stands at the top position across the southern States in generation of thermal power, would adversely affect the State’s development.
Noting that a large number of lignite mines were allocated to Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation by following the nomination method, he questioned the Centre as to why coal mines weren’t allocated to Singareni on similar lines. Rama Rao accused the Centre of bias by implementing one rule for Gujarat and another for Telangana.