BRS working president K.T. Rama Rao has called for protection of Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) from privatisation and demanded an investigation into what he described as irregularities and attempts to weaken the state-owned coal company. He made the allegations at a Singareni Karmika Garjana meeting at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Godavarikhani in Telangana’s Peddapalli district on Wednesday evening.
Rama Rao accused Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy of conspiring to hand over SCCL to private players and urged the company’s workers to unite to protect their rights. The allegations were made in a political address and were not accompanied in the report by documentary evidence or an official investigation finding.
He claimed that SCCL was facing a shortage of funds to procure essential equipment and supplies, including dumper tyres, dozers, graders, spare parts and lubricants. Rama Rao alleged that a deliberate effort was being made to push the company into a financial crisis, but the report did not provide financial statements or procurement records to independently establish the claim.
Rama Rao also raised questions about the performance of Singareni’s Jaipur Thermal Power Plant. He said the plant, built during the previous BRS government, had once ranked first in the country with a performance score of 91.8 per cent, but had fallen to 65th position because of coal shortages under the Congress government. The report did not specify the ranking source, the period covered or the methodology used for the comparison.
The former minister alleged that the state government was prioritising commissions over SCCL’s development and was using the proposed opening of new overburden mines to benefit vested interests. He also criticised the alleged use of Singareni funds for football matches, saying the company’s workers were not receiving adequate financial support. These claims were made without a response from the state government or SCCL in the supplied report.
Singareni is central to Telangana’s coal-mining and power economy, making disputes over its finances, procurement and ownership relevant beyond party politics. Any sustained shortage of mining equipment can affect extraction operations, while coal availability has direct implications for thermal power generation. The company’s workforce and surrounding mining communities are also closely linked to decisions on production, investment and industrial activity.
Rama Rao questioned the silence of the Centre and the Union Coal Ministry, noting that the Centre holds a 49 per cent stake in SCCL. He asked why no inquiry had been ordered into the alleged irregularities and demanded either a Central Bureau of Investigation probe or an investigation by a sitting judge.
He further alleged an understanding between the BJP and the Congress government in Telangana and claimed that the recognised SCCL trade union was aligned with the state government. The report did not include responses from the BJP, the Congress government, the Union Coal Ministry, SCCL or the recognised trade union to these allegations.
The BRS leader also said that party president K. Chandrashekar Rao was the only alternative for Singareni workers to defeat the Congress government. The immediate next steps sought in the address are an inquiry into the alleged irregularities and action to prevent any move towards privatisation.
