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Centre no to stake sale in Singareni
The Centre has cold-shouldered the Telangana Government’s proposal to acquire the former’s equity in Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL). This was disclosed in a written reply to the Member of Parliament, Prof A S R Nayak, by the Union Minister of State for Coal, Piyush Goyal.
New Delhi: The Centre has cold-shouldered the Telangana Government’s proposal to acquire the former’s equity in Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL). This was disclosed in a written reply to the Member of Parliament, Prof A S R Nayak, by the Union Minister of State for Coal, Piyush Goyal.
To a query by the MP whether the State wanted to buy the Centre’s equity in SCCL, the Minister replied that the Centre had 48.9015 per cent equity shareholding in the SCCL. He said that the Telangana government had submitted a proposal to purchase the equity in the August of 2014. As coal was a national asset, it had to be used in a manner so that need-based equitable distribution was effected for the entire country including non-coal States.
Allowing the State government to buy the equity was not in the national interest, the Minister said. On the clearances given on coal blocks and relocation of plants in some States including Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, the Minister said that steps had been taken for speedy clearances. He, however, said there were no plans for relocation of plants.
Speaking to The Hans India, A S R Nayak said, “we sincerely hoped that the Centre would concede our demand. After all, it was in State's interest that we sought to buy the equity. Telangana needs an extra thrust in every sector. We never thought they would disapprove of our proposal. Telangana needs more power and hence more coal of its own. Moreover, the recent coal policy is also not so congenial for us. We wish the Centre considers the special demands of our new State positively.”
A statement of the Chief Minister's Office said on July 21 that "the Telangana government explored the possibility of buying the Government of India's shareholding in Singareni Collieries Company Ltd (SCCL) to make it a Telangana state-owned company. Chief minister of the State, K Chandrashekar Rao, while reviewing the activities of SCCL in July, directed officials to initiate steps in this regard. Rao was banking on the Centre's disinvestment policy in seeking a clearance for the same.
SCCL is a government coal mining company jointly owned by the government of Telangana and the Centre on a 51:49 equity basis.” The statement further added that the Singareni coal reserves stretch across 350 km of the Pranahita-Godavari valley of Telangana with proven geological reserves aggregating to a whopping 8,791 million tonnes. SCCL is currently operating 15 open cast and 34 underground mines in four districts of Telangana with a manpower of around 62,805.
It pays about Rs 1,200 crore of royalty to the Central government, while contributing between Rs 1,500 crore and Rs 1,600 crore to the Telangana government. The total turnover of the company is about Rs 12,300 crore.
