Telangana govt announces Rs 819 crore bonus for Singareni workers

Hyderabad, Sep 22 (PTI) The Telangana government on Monday announced that the employees of state-owned coal mining firm, Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL), will be paid Rs 819 crore towards bonus from the net profits earned by the company in last financial year.

Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and his deputy Bhatti Vikramarka Mallu said Singareni company earned net profits of Rs 6,394 crore in the last financial year, of which Rs 4,034 crore was allocated for new projects undertaken by the company, a SCCL release said.

With the bonus, around 41,000 workers will receive an average of Rs 1,95,610 each. Compared to last year, each employee will receive Rs 8,289 more, which is a 4.4 per cent increase, it said. Additionally, a bonus of Rs 5,500 has been announced this year for 30,000 contract workers working in Singareni, it further said.

Revanth Reddy said special efforts will be made to ensure all coal blocks in Telangana belong to Singareni.

He further said efforts will also be made to return the Sathupalli and Koyagudem opencast blocks, which were previously acquired by private individuals through auction, back to Singareni.

He emphasised that Singareni should compete with private companies, and if others are selling coal at lower prices in the open market, Singareni should also sell coal at competitive rates.

Vikramarka said that Singareni should participate in coal block auctions conducted by the central government and acquire new blocks.

Singareni Chairman and Managing Director N Balram said Singareni has acquired the Naini block in Odisha, besides entering the critical mineral sector.

He stated that with the state government’s permission, new coal blocks will soon be acquired through auction and that Singareni will undertake many expansion projects.

The SCCL is a government coal mining company jointly owned by the Telangana government and the Union government on a 51:49 equity basis. PTI GDK VVK VVK KH