Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Wednesday addressed a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to take steps to stop the Coal Ministry from auctioning four coal blocks in Singareni Collieries.
Ahead of the three-day strike by trade unions in the coal belt of the State, Mr. Rao recalled that the the Singareni Collieries Companh Limited produced 65 million tonnes of coal annually and played a key role in meeting the coal requirement of power stations in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra , Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
The demand for power in Telangana had also gone up since the formation of the State in 2014. It was 5,661 MW then and 13,688 MW till March this year. Therefore, an uninterrupted supply of coal to the thermal power stations of the State had become a necessity.
The State government had sanctioned several mining leases in view of demand for coal from the mines of Singareni. They were also approved by the Coal Ministry.
The decision of the Centre to auction JBR open-cast mine - 3, open-cast mine at Sravanpalli, open-cast mine three at Koyagudem and KK-6 underground block will adversely affect coal excavation in Singareni Collieries. Hence, the Ministry should be directed to stop the auction, Mr. Rao appealed to Mr. Modi.
These blocks should be allotted to SCCL itself.
