Harish Rao slams Congress over Singareni financial crisis
Former minister T Harish Rao has alleged that the Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) is facing a serious financial crisis due to mismanagement by the Congress government in Telangana. Speaking at the Telangana Boggugani Karmika Sangam (TBGKS) at Telangana Bhavan on Tuesday, Rao claimed that dues payable to Singareni have increased alarmingly under the current regime.
Rao stated that in 2014, pending dues to Singareni stood at only around Rs 2,000 crore, which later rose to approximately Rs 7,000 crore from TS Genco during the BRS regime. However, he alleged that in just two-and-a-half years of Congress rule, the dues have surged to nearly Rs 21,000 crore.
Comparing the two administrations, Rao credited former Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao with reviving Singareni by providing employment to nearly 19,000 people. He accused the Congress government of weakening the organisation and threatening existing jobs. “Providing jobs was the work of BRS. Removing jobs has become the work of Congress,” he said.
Rao alleged large-scale irregularities in Singareni operations and accused the Congress government of looting the organisation “wherever possible.” He claimed that pending electricity-related dues alone had crossed Rs 20,000 crore, and the company was being pushed into overdraft despite once maintaining strong fixed deposits. “The state government Over Draft (OD) is around Rs 3,200 crore, while Singareni’s OD has crossed Rs 4,000 crore,” he added.
The former minister also raised serious questions about coal stock figures displayed on the official Singareni website. He claimed the website showed availability of 40 lakh metric tonnes of coal stock and alleged that income tax had been paid based on the reported revenue from that stock. He demanded clarity on the whereabouts of coal worth nearly Rs 1,600 crore and urged TBGKS to question the management over the issue.
Rao criticised the government’s decision to proceed with a solar power project in Jaisalmer near the Pakistan border in partnership with Rajasthan. He questioned why the government was not supporting cheaper power generation through NTPC while allegedly rushing ahead with solar projects even before approvals for the Detailed Project Report (DPR) and PPA were completed. He alleged that civil works had begun without proper approvals and accused the government of awarding contracts and taking commissions in the name of delayed thermal power projects.
He further alleged that mobilisation advances were being released in solar power tenders to facilitate commissions. Rao called on Union Coal Minister G. Kishan Reddy to disclose details regarding the missing coal stock and make public the findings of a committee reportedly constituted by the Centre after BRS raised allegations of corruption in coal mines.
