No Privatisation Of SCCL By Centre: Prahlad Joshi

Union Minister of Coal & Mines Prahlad Joshi on Wednesday asserted that the allegations by an MP of Telangana that the Singareni Collieries Company (SCCL) was being privatised, were absolutely wrong and baseless as the SCCL was jointly owned by the Government of Telangana and the Government of India in a 51:49 ratio.

Since the Government of Telangana was the major stakeholder with 51%, it was not even possible for the Government of India to privatise the SCCL, Joshi said.

The union minister also said that since the launch of transparent auctions of coal, no one was raising objections.

"This is also beneficial to the States that are adopting the auctions. The auctions are optional, and the States need participate only if they want to. Many State governments are participating in the auctions, including non-BJP-ruled States like Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. The entire revenue derived through the auctions is going to the State governments. It is only those who are involved in coal scams who that do not want a transparent system of auctions," the minister said.

Joshi was responding to Congress MP Uttam Kumar Reddy on the alleged privatisation of the SCCL and the auctions of coal blocks in Telangana, in the ongoing winter session of Parliament.