HYDERABAD : Union Minister for Coal and Mines G Kishan Reddy will launch the 10th round of commercial coal mines auction in Hyderabad on June 21. The Sravanapalli block in Telangana will be among the blocks going under the hammer.
Friday’s event will be the first major activity of the Coal Ministry in Telangana after Kishan assumed charge as minister.
The Sravanapalli coal block, located in the Godavari valley coalfield of Mancherial district, spans 18.63 sq km, with 10.18 sq km available for auction. It has an estimated 119.9 million tonnes of coal reserves at a depth of about 420.5 metres.
Interestingly, while the BRS and Congress are opposed to the auctioning of Telangana’s coal blocks, a release by the Coal Ministry says that Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka will be present at the event.
TBGKS frets about auction impact
Earlier, the Koyagudem block was auctioned without the SCCL participating, and a private firm won the bid.
The Telangana Boggu Ghani Karmika Sangham (TBGKS), affiliated with the BRS, has opposed the auction of the Sravanapalli block. Talking to TNIE, TBGKS general secretary Miryala Raji Reddy expressed concern about the impact on Singareni, and demanded direct allocation without auction to avoid financial burden from royalty payments which range from 4% to 30%.
Meanwhile, the Coal Ministry said that the auction will be transparent, competitive and sustainable in the coal sector.