Buddha Prakash made SCCL CMD after 2-month vacuum

Hyderabad: At a time when Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) is expanding beyond coal into power generation and renewable energy, the Telangana govt on Wednesday appointed senior IAS officer Jyoti Buddha Prakash as its new chairman and managing director, ending a two-month vacancy in the key post.The CMD position had been lying vacant since the second week of Dec last after the deputation term of N Balaram, an IRS officer, ended. Telangana Transco CMD D Krishna Bhaskar was holding additional charge during the interim period.
The govt's decision to appoint a full-fledged CMD comes amid pending decisions on major projects, including green energy initiatives, thermal power expansion and the Naini coal blocks. The Naini issue had also sparked controversy, with deputy chief minister Bhatti Vikramarka cancelling the tenders last month.Chief minister A Revanth Reddy is expected to convene a review meeting with SCCL officials shortly to take stock of the company's operations and future plans. Prakash, a 2002 batch IAS officer, previously served as secretary of the SC development department and was also in charge of the planning department. He has earlier held key assignments as secretary, housing department, and commissioner of registration and stamps. Following his appointment, special chief secretary Sabyasachi Ghosh was placed in charge of the SC development department while continuing to head tribal welfare. Sultania to head planningIn related administrative changes, principal secretary (finance) Sandeep Kumar Sultania was given additional charge of the planning department, and appointed director general of Telangana Remote Sensing Applications Centre. D Divya, CEO of the Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty (SERP), was placed in full additional charge of commissioner of panchayat raj and rural development, relieving Shruti Ojha. P Katyayani Devi, additional CEO of SERP, was posted as state nodal officer for Prajavani while continuing as joint MD of the Telangana Finance Corporation. U Raghuram Sharma, officer on special duty to IT, industries and legislative affairs minister D Sridhar Babu, was transferred and posted as special secretary, industries department, while continuing as OSD to the minister.