Union Minister Kishan Reddy assures to strengthen SCCL, address income tax exemption issue

Union Coal Minister G Kishan Reddy said the BJP would soon come to power in Telangana and strengthen SCCL. He highlighted the allocation of the Tadicherla-2 coal block, demanded the release of pending Singareni dues, and promised to address employees' concerns

Bhupalpally: Union Coal Minister G Kishan Reddy stated that the BJP would come to power in Telangana soon and steps would be taken to strengthen the SCCL besides resolving issues such as income tax exemption for the company’s employees.

He visited KTK-8 in Bhupalpally, met with the workers, interacted with the media in the presence of local residents and workers in Tadicherla village, and addressed SCCL workers in Ramagundam Area-1 as part of his ‘Singareni Bharosa Yatra’ on Tuesday.

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Stating that allocating the Tadicherla-2 coal block to SCCL was no ordinary achievement, he said that numerous discussions with the Supreme Court, the Law Ministry, the Attorney General’s Office, and other relevant officials were held over the past six months.

Some sections serving the interests of private companies tried to create apprehensions over the allocation of the coal block to SCCL, citing the Supreme Court’s verdict. However, the Centre completed all legal procedures to protect the company’s interests.

Discussions on the Tadicherla-2 coal block continued for nearly two decades since the tenure of former Chief Minister late Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy. The Centre took a historic decision to resolve the long-pending matter by allocating the coal block to Singareni, he said.

Tadicherla-2, with coal reserves estimated at approximately 350 million metric tonnes, is set to become the largest coal block in Singareni’s history. Based on the current market value, it is expected to generate a turnover of around Rs 1.20 lakh crore over the next 40 to 50 years.

Funds worth Rs 27,000 crore due to Singareni have been held back since the Congress government came to power. Payments were being made to contractors, massive budgets were presented every year, and money was spent on a foreign footballer’s event, yet the SCCL dues had not been cleared, the Union Minister noted.

Consequently, the Singareni management was forced to borrow from banks just to pay workers’ salaries. If the government was committed to the welfare of Singareni workers, the outstanding dues must be released immediately, Kishan Reddy demanded.