Hyderabad: Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader and former minister Harish Rao on Friday, January 23, alleged that irregularities in the tender allocation process of state-owned Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) has caused massive avoidable losses.
In a letter addressed to Union Minister for Coal and Mines, G Kishan Reddy, Harish Rao detailed his concerns over “a deep-rooted nexus involving political
influence, manipulation of tendering processes and intimidation of officials.”
The Siddipet MLA flagged the site visit certificate system as an arbitrary precondition adopted by the SCCL under the Congress government.
He said the unprecedented procedure is not followed by either Coal India Limited or Western Coalfields Limited, and its introduction appears “deliberately designed to eliminate genuine competition and favour select politically connected entities.”
He said that the system has selectively benefited parties favoured by the government, and has allowed tenders to be awarded as per governmental preference rather than merit or competitiveness.
He also claimed that tenders that were previously awarded at prices 7–10 percent lower than the estimated cost were cancelled without any technical failure or financial default, and were later re-tendered by the Congress at prices 7–10 percent higher than the estimated cost.
This, he said, was in stark contrast to national norms where similar OB (overburden) coal block tenders are normally finalized at 10–22 percent below estimates.
Harish Rao also alleged irregularities in contracts for solar power projects, saying that three separate solar plants at different locations were clubbed under a single tender, and the contract was given to a consortium linked to Goldi Solar Power Private Limited, a Gujarat-based entity.
He said the contract was awarded at Rs 5.04 crore per megawatt (MW), when the national average ranges between Rs 3-4 crore per MW, causing an excess burden of Rs 200-250 crore.
He said a similar contract for a 67 MW solar project at Ramagundam was awarded at Rs 7.16 crore per MW, incurring a loss of Rs 200-250 crore.
Harish Rao said that SCCL has been procuring explosives at rates nearly 30 percent higher Coal India Limited and when Director GV Reddy refused to approve these inflated rates, he was forced to resign.
He alleged that another Director, NVK Srinivas, was also demoted from Director to General Manager as he refused to sign such approvals.
He further said that SCCL’s long-standing practice of procuring diesel directly from Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) was also discontinued, and procurement was shifted to contractors, increasing project costs and imposing avoidable GST burdens.
Harish Rao also claimed that a massive tender worth approximately Rs 1,044 crore relating to the Prakasam Khani Open Cast Project at Manuguru is currently being manipulated through the site same visit certification mechanism.
He said there are allegations that competing bidders are being intimidated and discouraged from participating and that site visit certificates are being selectively issued to favoured entities.
Additionally, he said that technical bids were opened, and dates were
announced for a Rs 600 crore contract for Srirampur (overburden) OB work, but since then, the tender has been postponed seven times without any
justification.
He also alleged serious irregularities in the Jaipur Power Plant tender.
Harish Rao also called out the silence of Central Government–nominated Directors on the SCCL Board over such irregularities, saying their inaction “raises serious questions of administrative failure, acquiescence, or a
deeper nexus.”
Rao also expressed concern that SCCL has been functioning without a regular CMD for nearly two years, resulting in weakened institutional checks and has enabled arbitrary, politically driven decisions.
Harish Rao has called for the immediate cancellation of all SCCL tenders awarded or processed under the site visit certification system and has asked for a judicial enquiry or CBI investigation into the SCCL irregularities.
