Telangana: Centre counters KTR on coal blocks

HYDERABAD: Responding to the allegation levelled by Industries Minister KT Rama Rao that the Centre is discriminating in the allocation of coal blocks to States, the Union Ministry of Coal, in a statement on Friday said that three coal blocks have been allocated to Telangana since 2015.

The Ministry of Coal said that while two lignite blocks were allotted to GMDC in 2015, it has allocated three blocks to Telangana since 2015, which included the Naini coal block in 2015, Pengadappa and New Patrapara to SCCL in 2016, and one coal mine Tadicherla-I, to Telangana State Power Generation Limited in 2015.

“Pengadappa and New Patrapara coal blocks have been surrendered by the SCCL under the amnesty scheme of Central Govt., wherein penalties for the surrender of coal mines by PSUs were waived. The Naini block allotted to SCCL in 2015, is still not operationalised by the government of Telangana, even though the GoI facilitated all clearances,” the statement said.

Rama Rao had alleged that while the Centre had allocated two coal blocks to Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation Ltd (GMDC), it has been auctioning the coal blocks in Telangana and not allocating coal blocks to SCCL.

He said that this was hurting the public sector undertaking’s development, consequently affecting the socioeconomic development of the State. He had warned on Thursday that a massive movement will be launched if the Centre continued with its plans to privatise SCCL by not allocating any coal blocks to it.