Hyderabad: Union Minister of Coal and Mines G Kishan Reddy on Thursday said the Central Government has taken historic decisions to safeguard Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL), describing it as the energy lifeline of Telangana and South India and the heartbeat of thousands of local families.

Addressing the media, Kishan Reddy said the activities and livelihoods of nearly 75,000 people directly and around 10 lakh people indirectly across six districts, including the erstwhile Adilabad, Karimnagar, Warangal and Khammam regions, depend on Singareni.

He recalled the role played by Singareni workers during the Telangana movement and said the Modi government allocated new coal blocks as a recognition of their contribution and sacrifices.

The Union Minister said Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a historic decision to allocate the Tadicherla-II coal block to Singareni by using available legal provisions. He said the decision was taken after he brought the appeals of various stakeholders, including Labour Congress, communist trade unions, officials, engineers’ associations, general managers’ organisations, MPs and MLAs, to the Prime Minister’s notice beyond political affiliations.

Kishan Reddy said Tadicherla-II has the largest coal reserves among all blocks currently under Singareni’s control. He stated that while the GVR open-cast mine at Sathupalli had 227 million tonnes of reserves, Tadicherla-II has 434 million tonnes of high-quality Grade-8 and Grade-9 coal. Along with the 455 million tonnes available in the Naini block, Singareni now has access to around 795 million tonnes of coal reserves.

He said production of 10 million tonnes annually from Tadicherla would provide stability to Singareni and ensure Telangana’s energy security for nearly 45 years. The project is expected to generate a turnover of around Rs 2.25 lakh crore over four decades, including Rs 1.50 lakh crore from Tadicherla and Rs 75,000 crore from the Naini block.

The Union Minister said Tadicherla would utilise Singareni’s existing workforce and provide permanent employment to over 2,000 workers for 45 years. He added that the two coal blocks would create around 3,500 new jobs and boost infrastructure development, including railway networks and road connectivity.

Kishan Reddy also urged the state government to focus on resolving Singareni’s financial issues and clear outstanding dues of Rs 54,148 crore. He said the dues include Rs 28,876 crore owed by the Telangana government for electricity supplied by Singareni’s thermal power plant and Rs 25,272 crore owed by Telangana GENCO entities for coal supplies.

Criticising the previous BRS government, he alleged that Singareni was treated like a private company and accumulated around Rs 30,000 crore in dues before the government changed. He claimed that the present Congress government added another Rs 24,000 crore to the arrears.

Kishan Reddy said his visit was not aimed at political criticism but at sharing details of the Tadicherla-II allocation, which he described as a major achievement for Singareni and Telangana. He expressed disappointment over Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka’s criticism and said he would leave the judgment on those remarks to the people.