Harish Rao writes to Kishan Reddy seeking CBI probe into SCCL tenders and policy decisions after 2024

Hyderabad: Former Minister T Harish Rao on Tuesday demanded that Union Minister for Coal and Mines G Kishan Reddy order a CBI probe into all tenders and policy decisions taken by the Singareni Collieries Company Limited after 2024.

He released a letter addressed to the Union Minister to media persons at Telangana Bhavan ahead of appearing before the SIT.

Harish Rao said that after 2024, SCCL introduced the Site Visit Certificate system as a mandatory precondition for participation in tenders. He pointed out that this system had no precedent in Singareni’s history, nor was it being followed by Coal India Limited.

After the introduction of this system, several tenders were cancelled and contracts were awarded at rates ranging from an additional seven to 10 percent, in sharp contrast to national norms where OB coal block tenders generally conclude at 10 to 22 percent lower. Traditionally, Singareni tenders were awarded at seven, eight, 10 and even 20 percent lower, he said.

“What is particularly alarming is that several tenders that were finalised during the BRS regime through competitive bidding at seven to 10 percent lower were cancelled without any reported technical failure or financial default. They were re-tendered in the new system at significantly higher rates,” Harish Rao said in the letter.

This systematic abolition of competitively awarded contracts and their re-allotment at inflated prices suggested a deliberate reversal of competitive outcomes and had caused substantial financial loss to SCCL, he alleged.

He also said that Singareni’s long-standing practice of bulk diesel procurement directly from IOCL was discontinued, with the responsibility of diesel supply shifted to contractors. This policy change, he said, had increased project costs and imposed an avoidable GST burden.

“These decisions were taken without transparent justification, which further strengthens apprehensions of commission-driven policy manipulation. Most disturbingly, Central Government-nominated Directors on the SCCL Board, whose primary statutory responsibility is to safeguard SCCL, have remained silent,” he pointed out.

Singareni has been functioning without a regular CMD for the last two years. Only a CBI investigation could impartially examine the legality and intent behind the introduction of the site visit certification system, the cancellation of BRS-era competitive tenders and their re-award at higher rates, the withdrawal of bulk diesel procurement, and the possible collusion between political authorities, contractors, SCCL officials and Board members, Harish Rao stressed.