Harish Says Many Scams in Singareni, Urges Kishan Reddy to Act
Harish Rao alleges scams in SCCL, seeks judicial probe by Supreme Court judge
Hyderabad: Senior BRS leader T. Harish Rao on Friday alleged that Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) was beset with scams and called on Union minister G. Kishan Reddy to “take the matter with “the seriousness it deserves and act decisively to protect a strategically important public sector undertaking.”
In a letter to the Union minister, Harish Rao said the requirement of site visit certification was just the tip of the iceberg of scams at SCCL, and demanded that the Centre order a judicial probe by a Supreme Court judge into the allegations.
Harish Rao mentioned an alleged scam related to a 107-MW solar power project of the SCCL. “Instead of developing solar plants at three different sites, they were combined into a single 107 MW tender to reduce competition and prevent MSMEs from participating. The cost was raised from `3.5 croe per megawatt (MW) to `5.04 crore per megawatt and this cost Singareni an additional `250 crore,” he said.
In another project, the cost per MW was fixed at `7 crore, almost double the national average. “Nearly `500 crore changed hands in these two deals,” Harish Rao alleged.
He also said there were serious irregularities in purchase of gelatin sticks used for blasting operations for mining, and the explosives were bought at a 30 per cent higher rate. SCCL officials were targeted for refusing to sign on the deal, Harish Rao said. He added that there were several other scams in SCCL and demanded that Kishan Reddy initiate action to save the company which is jointly owned by the Centre and the state.