HYDERABAD: Accusing the ruling TRS of trying to run a malicious campaign on the lines of the issue of paddy procurement by claiming that the Centre was going to ‘privatise’ Singareni Collieries, BJP State president Bandi Sanjay Kumar on Sunday said that since the State government was a major stakeholder, it has the final say over the future of the SCCL and not the Union government.
In a media statement, Sanjay referred to a letter received from Union Minister of Coal and Mines Pralhad Joshi in which he clarified that the State and Union governments have joint ownership of the Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL).
Sanjay quoted Joshi’s letter saying that since Telangana is the major stakeholder, no decision on SCCL can be taken by the Union government without the concurrence of the State government. “In view of the upcoming SCCL elections, KCR is trying to mislead its employees,” the BJP MP alleged.
He said that the Union Minister had clarified in his letter that there was no proposal for privatisation of SCCL and the public auction of coal blocks situated in the command area of SCCL cannot be construed as ‘privatisation of SCCL’.
In his letter, Pralhad Joshi informed that the auction of coal blocks was being carried out under the provisions of the Mines and Mineral (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 and the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Act, 2015.