Union Minister for Culture and Tourism G Kishan Reddy has called for a whitepaper on the Singareni Collieries Company Ltd (SCCL). The company has gone from being profitable to being in debt, and Reddy is demanding that the Chief Minister release a report explaining why. He has accused the state government of political interference and back-door privatisation, which he says has led to a significant reduction in jobs, economic collapse and security lapses. Reddy has also criticised the government for criticising the Centre for trying to privatise SCCL, when it is the state government that has privatised it through unscrupulous back-channels.
Reddy is particularly concerned about the Kalvakuntla family, who he says are responsible for mismanaging the SCCL. He claims that they have forgotten that mines are allotted through public auctions across the country, and that they are now deceiving people of Andhra Pradesh by saying they will invest in the Visakha Steel Plant (VSP).
Reddy has pointed out that the SCCL has gone from having surplus funds of Rs. 3,500 crore when Telangana was formed to having debts and liabilities of about Rs 10,000 crore. He has asked the government to explain why the company’s turnover is increasing but its profits are not increasing commensurately. The minister has warned that the SCCL is now in such a dire situation that it can’t pay salaries without incurring debts.
Reddy has also compared the SCCL to Coal India Ltd (CIL), which is 10 times bigger than Singareni but currently has outstanding debt of Rs. 12,000 crore, as against SCCL’s Rs. 10,000 crore. He believes that the excessive political interference and unnecessary meddling in every aspect of the company is exacerbating the situation.
