Coal Ministry Panel Probes SCCL Tender Cancellation

Hyderabad: The Union coal ministry’s two-member technical committee, initiated by Union coal and mines minister G. Kishan Reddy, on Saturday continued its investigation into alleged irregularities at Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL), focusing on the controversial cancellation of a key tender for the Naini coal mine in Odisha.

The committee, comprising Coal Ministry deputy director general Chetan Shukla and technical department director Marapalli Venkateswarlu, directed SCCL officials to provide all documents related to the Naini mine development, operation and maintenance (MDO) tender, which was held on November 28 last year and later cancelled. Records are collected from SCCL’s headquarters in Kothagudem and its Hyderabad office.

Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Bandi Sanjay Kumar expressed concern over possible misplacement of records and called for immediate seizure of all relevant documents to ensure transparency. “The fear of records being tampered with or misplaced cannot be ignored; all paperwork must be secured without delay,” he said.

In a parallel development, Kishan Reddy chaired a high-level meeting with SCCL officials and representatives of the Ministry of Coal in Kothagudem. In a social media post, he said discussions focused on evaluating ongoing projects, increasing coal production, securing the future of workers and improving productivity through the adoption of technology.

The committee also examined the use of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds and whether approvals exceeded standard procedures, sources said. Naini plans to visit the mining site.

The investigation compares SCCL’s practices with those of Coal India and Mahanadi Coalfields over allegations of nepotism in CSR fund sanctions influenced by MLAs, ministers and political leaders.