Context: In a major relief to Telangana, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs has ruled that the Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) belongs to Telangana.

Key Points

• The Union Ministry’s recent communication to the Governments of the two Telugu States Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, brings to an end the stalemate prevailing over the division of assets pertaining to the public sector mining company between the two States as part of the AP Reorganisation Act. 

• The Telangana State Government has been firm that the company belonged to it on the basis of location and this has been confirmed by the Attorney General.

• This brings to an end the stalemate prevailing over the division of assets pertaining to the public sector mining company between the two Telugu States Telangana and Andhra Pradesh as part of the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014. 

• The Home Ministry ruled that only one coal block Naini, which is situated in Odisha has been allocated to SCCL under the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Act, 2015. No  other coal blocks of SCCL are found in any other state.

Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL)

• Ownership: It is a Government coal mining company jointly owned by the Government of Telangana and Government of India on a 51:49 equity basis. 

• Nomenclature: It is named after the village Singareni in khammam district, Telangana where the coal mines are first noticed. Colleries means a coal mine and all the infrastructure that is part of it.

Area covered: The Singareni coal reserves stretch across 350 Km of the Pranahita – Godavari Valley of Telangana.

• The Pranahita River is the largest tributary of the Godavari River.

• The River begins at the confluence of two rivers (the Wardha and the Wainganga) on the border between the states of Maharashtra and Telangana.