In a setback to the Congress government in Telangana, the Union Ministry of Coal has constituted a two-member technical committee to probe the Notice Inviting Tender (NIT) after the state government called off the tenders invited by Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) for auctioning Naini coal blocks in Odisha.
The technical team will visit the SCCL Headquarters and submit the report within three days. The tenders were cancelled after doubts were raised in the vernacular media that the tender notices were framed to keep out certain companies. Coal Minister G Kishan Reddy, who hails from Telangana, had alleged that political interference had pushed SCCL into financial distress.
Following instructions from the Union Coal minister, a technical team with the deputy director general and the director was formed to analyse the NIT. “A technical team has been constituted as per the directions of Hon’ble Minister of Coal to examine and analyse the Notice Inviting Tender (NIT) published on 28.11.2025 for the appointment of a mine developer and operator (MDO) for the Naini Coal Block,” said the order.
The auction of the Naini Coal blocks was reportedly behind the slanderous news story against a woman IAS officer, which led to the arrest of three reporters in Telangana. According to the allegations, the story was run by a local news channel as the owner had teamed up with Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka Mallu to be a party to the auction. Another minister, Komatireddy Venkat Reddy’s brother, was also keen to participate in the auction, but the NIT was framed to include a site visit as one of the conditions to keep out the companies. Meanwhile, the slanderous story was also run on the news channel. Citing doubts raised in the tender process, the Deputy Chief Minister announced the cancellation of the tenders. He, however, denied the allegations.
But the coal ministry has now taken up the issue and decided to examine the NIT. The terms of reference for the technical team include analysing the NIT and identifying the reasons that led to the cancellation of the tender process. It would also compare the practices adopted by other coal companies in preparing the NIT for the appointment of an MDO and analysing the CSR spending pattern and whether it was in accordance with statutory CSR provisions.