HYDERABAD: The Centre has begun an internal inquiry into alleged irregularities at Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) and is prepared to order a CBI investigation if the state formally requests one, Union Minister for Coal and Mines G Kishan Reddy said on Tuesday. His remarks added to the political controversy over the auction of the Naini coal block.
Speaking to the media in Delhi after a Singareni board meeting, Kishan alleged that the latest issues at SCCL surfaced following differences among state Cabinet ministers over shares. He added that the Coal India Limited secretary would soon write to the Telangana chief secretary on the matter.
Accusing the previous BRS regime of weakening Singareni, Kishan alleged that the Congress government was following the same approach. “During BRS rule, the Kalvakuntla family dominated Singareni, from major tenders to minor contracts,” he said, adding that the current dispensation was treating SCCL as “a goose that lays golden eggs” and “looting the toil of Singareni workers”.
He noted that while the Centre and the state hold shares in the ratio of 49:51, decision-making rests with the state government. “The state does not notify its decisions to the Centre, and the Centre does not meddle in Singareni’s affairs,” he said, adding that political interference had pushed the company into trouble.
Kishan: Site visit certificate not mandatory anywhere else
Recalling that SCCL had once fallen into a debt trap, Kishan said former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had enabled its revival by allowing a moratorium through the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction, which helped the company turn profitable.
He alleged that the BRS later turned SCCL into a “political laboratory” and that corruption had continued under the present state government.
On the Naini coal block, he said the Centre allotted it to Telangana in 2015 to ensure quality energy supply. The then chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao called for tenders but later cancelled them, he said, adding that a similar situation had arisen under Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy. Kishan said he personally pursued final approvals with the Odisha government in 2024, following which 643 hectares were handed over to Telangana on July 4, 2024.
“Instead of starting work transparently after securing final approvals, the Congress government has, unfortunately, been in the news for irregularities and corruption,” he said.
On the site visit certificate clause, Kishan said such provisions existed elsewhere as self-declarations, but making it mandatory had “opened the doors to corruption” in SCCL.
“Did the state attempt to favour certain organisations or individuals? Was the Tadicharla coal block not allotted to a private entity for 25 years?” he asked.
He demanded that the state clear pending dues of about Rs 47,000 crore to SCCL, alleging that the company now had to borrow from financial institutions even to pay wages. Pointing to price disparities, he said SCCL priced G11 coal at Rs 4,088 per tonne, while Coal India Limited priced the same grade at Rs 1,605. He also claimed that SCCL coal had a 58% quality factor compared to 86% for CIL.
“That is two-and-a-half times the CIL-indexed price,” he said, alleging price inflation to enable corruption, and expressed concern over the rise in electricity charges.