Congress draws flak for changing colours on Singareni coal mine auction

The current Congress administration is being criticised for not mounting a strong defence against the Centre's plans, unlike the previous BRS government, paving way for privatisation.

Hyderabad: The Congress government is facing severe criticism from multiple quarters for its passive approach towards the auction of coal blocks belonging to the State-owned Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL). The current Congress administration is being criticised for not mounting a strong defence against the Centre’s plans, unlike the previous BRS government, paving way for privatisation.

In 2011, under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the UPA government introduced the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Bill to replace the MMDR Act of 1957. However, objections from industry stakeholders led to the bill being referred to a parliamentary standing committee, which suggested 107 changes and had eventually elapsed.

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When the BJP-led NDA came to power, the Narendra Modi government passed the MMDR Amendment Ordinance in 2015, facilitating commercial coal block auctions. Since 2020, the Centre has auctioned over 107 coal blocks in nine tranches, with 256 million tonnes of peak rated capacity. In the latest and 10th round, 62 more blocks are up for auction.

Telangana has 82 coal blocks, but SCCL controls only 40. The Centre plans to auction the remaining 42 blocks to private companies. The latest auction includes four SCCL coal mines: Kalyan Khani block-6, Koyagudem block-3, Sathupalli block-6, and Shravanapalli.

The BRS government had previously fought vigorously against the Centre’s auction plans, seeking to keep these blocks under SCCL’s control. Despite this, the Centre insisted that even state-owned companies must participate in the auctions. Ironically, it allocated mines to other Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) in Gujarat and Odisha without auction.

After the NDA government returned to power this month for third term, the Centre proposed to auction 62 coal blocks including four blocks in Telangana. Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy initiatlly stated that the SCCL also will participate in the auction and even deputy Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka to attend the auctioning ceremony held in Hyderabad on Friday.

When the opposition parties like BRS along with Singareni workers unions raised strong objections to the auction, he backtracked. After being reminded about his stance opposing the auction of coal blocks in 2021, he urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to allocate all four blocks to the State.

On Friday, BRS working president KT Rama Rao criticised both the BJP and the Congress for ignoring Telangana’s interests and questioned the Chief Minister the change in stance over the coal mine auction. He criticised that as the Chief Minister, Revanth Reddy sent Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka to participate and promote auctions that the Congress opposed vociferously in the past. He cautioned that auctioning these blocks could lead to the privatisation of SCCL.

“Can you explain the reasons for this change of heart and compulsions (if any) that may have led to this? Do you not agree that auctioning of Telangana coal blocks will essentially pave the way for eventual privatisation of Singareni under the guise of disinvestment?” he questioned. He demanded to know why the State government is not questioning the Centre on direct allocation of mines to PSUs in Gujarat and Odsha, but not to Telangana.

Former Parliament member B Vinod Kumar demanded for halting the auction of Singareni coal blocks immediately. He suggested the Centre to reserve coal blocks to SCCL on the nomination basis in the Godavari Valley Coal Field and as also elsewhere under Section 17A/11A of the Mines and Mineral (Development and Regulation) Act.

Former Energy Minister G Jagadish Reddy echoed these sentiments, calling out Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka for his contradictory statements. He urged SCCL workers to recognise the double standards of both Congress and BJP, and demanded clear answers about the status of the Shravanapalli block in the auction.