Hyderabad: Blaming the BRS govt for coal supply issues to Yadadri Thermal Power Station (YTPS), deputy CM Bhatti Vikramarka said the BRS govt had made a commitment of 14 million tons of G9 premium grade coal to the YTPS when G9 coal was not available in the state, and claimed that the previous govt did not find a permanent solution to coal supply concerns.Addressing a news conference at Praja Bhavan on Wednesday, Vikramarka clarified that the state govt had no intention to privatise the state power utilities, including TG Genco, TG Transco and TG discoms; in fact, it is trying to strengthen the public sector units, he said.“The BRS, which was in power for 10 years, should explain what they had done instead of hiding their mistakes and making irresponsible statements merely because they are now in the opposition. The KCR’s govt proceeded with the construction of the Yadadri power plant without finalising the required coal allocation and supply linkages in advance,” he said.He said Singareni coal was also required for the Kothagudem and Bhadradri thermal power plants as well as NTPC. When there was not enough coal even to meet the requirements of these plants, promising 14 million tonnes for Yadadri was clearly impractical, he said.“Will you construct a power plant without coal allocation? How will the plant operate without coal? Harish Rao must answer this question to the people,” the deputy CM demanded.He alleged that the BRS had been negligent in securing new coal blocks to meet the requirements of Yadadri and increase coal production in the state. Although no new coal blocks were brought into operation, Singareni had increased production within its existing resources, Vikramarka said. Singareni produced 52.6 million metric tonnes of coal in 2014-15, whereas it achieved production and dispatch of 62 million metric tonnes in 2025–26, he said.Vikramarka said that apart from land, detailed project report (DPR) and technical aspects, coal linkage is one of the most crucial requirements for a thermal power plant. There should have been a clear plan regarding where the required coal would come from, how much would be supplied, its quality and the capacity of the supply system. However, the Yadadri plant was constructed without adequate clarity on these issues, the deputy CM said.He said while the Letter of Intent for construction of the YTPS was issued on Feb 16, 2015, an agreement was signed between Singareni Collieries and TS Genco on April 20, 2016, and that out of the 14 million tonnes of coal required annually for the Yadadri plant, Singareni was to supply only 7 million tonnes. On Dec 9 of the same year, another agreement was entered into with MSTC under which the remaining 50% of the coal requirement was proposed to be imported. MSTC had agreed to supply around 7 million tonnes of imported coal annually for the Yadadri plant, he said. He added that letters were also written to the Railways for transportation of the imported coal. However, those agreements were not implemented. Another MoU was entered into with SCCL on April 27, 2022, under which Singareni would supply the entire 14 million tonnes of coal required by the Yadadri plant, Bhatti said.“SCCL’s production capacity of G9 grade coal was only 1.71 million tonnes by 2022-2023. How Singareni could supply 14 million tonnes of coal annually to Yadadri under such circumstances?” he questioned.Bhatti criticised the BRS govt for failing to protect the coal blocks available to Singareni during its ten-year tenure. Between 2014 and 2024, 14 coal blocks were closed, resulting in a reduction of around 15 million tonnes in coal production, he said, alleging that Singareni was kept away from participating in auctions for new coal blocks.“If Singareni had participated in the auctions, it could have secured at least some coal blocks,” the deputy CM said. He also blamed the BRS for delays in YTPS completion and also in bringing Naini coal block into operation.
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