KTR demands judicial probe into ‘missing coal stock’ of Singareni

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Working president of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) K.T. Rama Rao has demanded that Union Minister of Coal G. Kishan Reddy order an inquiry into the coal stock ‘scam’ in Singareni Collieries Company Ltd (SCCL) with a sitting judge as it would severely impact the company financially.

In a letter addressed to the Union Minister on Friday, the BRS leader said the coal stock scam was worth ₹1,600 crore and alleged that the Congress leaders were conspiring to throttle SCCL with the coal stock scam by siphoning off coal stock worth ₹1,600 crore. There was no account of 40 lakh tonnes of coal being shown as stocked at seven mines of the company. The company had paid coal cess and income tax for the coal but there was no stock physically.

He stated that till April-end coal stock of 7.2 lakh tonnes at Mandamarri, 8 lakh tonnes at Srirampur, 6 lakh tonnes at Ramagundam-I, 4 lakh tonnes at Ramagundam-II, 5.4 lakh tonnes at Bhupalapalli, 3.5 lakh tonnes at Yellandu, 2 lakh tonnes at Sattupalli and the remaining out of 40 lakh tonnes stock at a few other mines was shown in the records but it was not found there at the mines physically.

The delay in arrival of inspection authorities from the Coal Ministry to check the stock in April and the delay in checking of stock by the CAG authorities was also giving suspicious to several doubts. The workers and employees of SCCL were of the view that the Central and State governments were hand in glove in the missing coal stock, he alleged.

Mr. Rama Rao demanded that the Coal Ministry could send an all-party team to SCCL to check the coal stock if it was sincere on the issue. Even a committee set up by the Centre on the alleged irregularities in tenders in Singareni had not submitted its report so far, he said.

Mr. Rama Rao alleged that the Congress government in the State had also unveiled a scam by cancelling the system of procuring diesel from the Indian Oil Corporation directly for SCCL needs. Even in the purchase of explosives, the SCCL had p