KTR breathes fire over coal

Hyderabad: Alleging a conspiracy to privatise the Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL), Industries Minister KT Rama Rao on Monday warned the BJP government at the Centre of an agitation which will be much bigger than the farmers' protest over three farm laws.

Stating that the coal of Singareni is a big asset for Telangana in a letter dashed off to Union Coal Minister Prahlad Joshi, Rama Rao said, "Employees of Singareni and the people of Telangana will show their power in Delhi if the BJP continues its attempts to privatize the company. This agitation will be much bigger than the agitation staged against the three farm laws."

KTR, as the state minister is popularly known, expressed anger over the Centre asking the SCCL to participate in the auction for JBROC-3, KK-6, Shravana Pally OC, Koyagudem coal mines instead of allocating them directly to the company.

"The Centre is supposed to allocate coal mines to strengthen the Singareni which is running in profits. Instead, they are asking the company to take part in an auction for mines. This is nothing but creating hurdles for Telangana and its development," said KTR.

KTR stated that SCCL is not just a coal mine but a gold mine that is giving employment to thousands of youth of Telangana. He said that the Telangana leaders will stand by the Singareni employees in this fight against BJP. He said Singareni supplies coal to about 2,000 industries in Telangana and privatisation of Singareni will hamper the growth of the industrial sector in Telangana.

The minister opined that the Centre is not auctioning just the four mines of Singareni, but is auctioning the lives of Singareni workers in the open market. KTR alleged that the BJP government at the Centre is conspiring to kill the Singareni also in a similar fashion by refusing to allocate the coal mines.

He expressed concern that if privatised, Singareni will completely disappear soon. KTR also questioned the Centre as to why the coal mines were not allocated to Singareni directly like the lignite mines allocated to the Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation in Gujarat.

Under the BJP governance, there is one rule for Gujarat and another rule for Telangana! Is Telangana not a part of India? he asked. This, he said, was not just discrimination against the Singareni organisation, it is discrimination against the Telangana State and its people.

The minister said that the thermal power plant run by Singareni has the best Plant Load Factor (PLF) in the country. He added that the Singareni is providing coal not just within Telangana but also to various thermal power plants in Maharashtra, and other south Indian states.