Telangana Dy CM Asks SCCL, TG GENCO to Prepare Action Plan on Coal Requirement
The Deputy CM also underlined the need to reduce production costs and improve the coal quality to compete with the private companies in the market
Nalgonda: Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka on Thursday advised the managements of the Singareni Collieries and the state power generation corporation to jointly prepare a long-term action plan by assessing the coal requirements for the next decade.
He inspected the Jalagam Vengala Rao opencast coal mine of SCCL at Sathupalli in Khammam district and reviewed the coal reserves, production processes and coal quality with the officials.
The state government's foremost objective, he stressed, is to ensure that SCCL remains a strong, efficiently managed, and future-ready public sector enterprise by expanding its business and securing its long-term sustainability for future generations.
Stating that this would take at least seven to eight years from acquiring a coal block through auction to completing land acquisition, obtaining forest clearances and commencing the mining operations, he asked the SCCL to prepare and execute plans with a minimum 10-year strategic vision.
The Deputy CM also underlined the need to reduce production costs and improve the coal quality to compete with the private companies in the market.
Transporting inferior-quality coal, he said, not only increases transportation costs, but also reduces efficiency at thermal power plants resulting in plant tripping. Officials must supply high-quality and uncontaminated coal to TG Genco and other customers.
Speaking to the media, Vikramarka termed Singareni as the soul of Telangana and moted that the people and its workforce shared an emotional bond with the 130-year-old entity. It, he said, is everyone's collective responsibility not only to protect this iconic public sector enterprise, but also strengthen it and hand this over as a profitable organisation to future generations.
His field visit was aimed at directly assessing mining operations, understanding the challenges faced by the company, and reviewing its future plans.
“Singareni had missed several opportunities over the past decade by not participating in auctions for new coal blocks,” he said and added that, after the Congress government assumed office, the pending issues relating to land acquisition and forest clearances for Tadicherla-II and Naini coal blocks were resolved expeditiously.
The government, he said, would extend full support to enable Singareni to participate in future coal block auctions across the country. Singareni's vast expertise in mining and its highly skilled technical workforce should also be leveraged to explore and mine critical minerals and rare earth minerals, which are essential for semiconductor and chip manufacturing.
Highlighting the global shift towards clean energy, he suggested Singareni not to remain confined to coal production alone, but must rapidly expand its wings into the solar energy sector. He opined that solar power, pumped storage, hydrogen and nuclear energy would replace thermal power in the future.
Accordingly, Singareni should significantly enhance its focus on solar power generation, he maintained.
