Telangana SCCL tender controversy: BRS demands high level inquiry, Congress challenges for debate

Hyderabad, 22 January. Political tension has increased in Telangana over alleged irregularities in the tenders of state-owned Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL). BRS has demanded a high-level inquiry into the matter, while the ruling Congress has challenged the opposition party to a debate on the issue. SCCL is a coal mining company in which the Government of Telangana and the Central Government jointly hold shares in the ratio of 51:49.

Responding to criticism over not conducting a CBI investigation in the case, Union Coal and Mines Minister G Kishan Reddy told reporters in Delhi that the consent of the state government is necessary for an investigation by the central agency. He said that if the state government is ready then the Center will consider a CBI investigation.

Kishan Reddy said that although SCCL is a company jointly owned by the Telangana government and the Centre, its management has always been controlled by the state government and the Center does not have real powers in its operations. He alleged that BRS president and former Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao’s family had influence over tenders and even small contracts in SCCL during the previous BRS regime.

He said that due to political interference, SCCL got into many problems and the company owed about Rs 32,000 crore to the state government. According to him, the present Congress government is also following the same path and continuing the irregularities in the company. Kishan Reddy said the previous BRS government had invited tenders for SCCL’s Naini coal block, but they were canceled before the tender process was completed.

He said that the present government also invited tenders, but later withdrew them. He also said that an emergency board meeting of SCCL was held and in view of media reports on alleged irregularities in the tenders, the Secretary of the Coal Ministry will soon write to the Chief Secretary of the Telangana Government on the company’s affairs. He said the Center would also consider sending a team of its officials to take corrective steps.

BRS working president K. T. Rama Rao demanded investigation into the tender matter. He also took aim at Kishan Reddy’s comment that if the Congress government comes forward and demands a CBI inquiry, the Center will consider it. Rama Rao said in a statement, “Would a person committing broad daylight robbery ever go to a police station demanding an investigation against himself?”

Responding to BRS attack, State Congress President B. Mahesh Kumar Gaur said that BRS is only trying to defame the Congress government. “We will show how contractors were benefited by overquoting the amount in Singareni tenders during the BRS regime,” he told reporters.

Gaur said that the government is ready to debate on the tenders issued by the Congress government in the last two years after coming to power. He said the debate would include the difference in contract amounts between the BRS and Congress governments. He said that if any error is found, the government will take corrective action. The state government had recently announced the cancellation of some SCCL tenders following reports of alleged irregularities.