Govt manipulating Singareni tenders: Harish

Hyderabad: Former minister and BRS deputy floor leader T Harish Rao has accused the Congress govt of manipulating tenders at Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL). He highlighted concerns about cartelisation, particularly noting a -12% bid in the SRP OC-II tender as evidence of this issue.Rao stated that BRS had previously raised questions about irregularities in overburden (OB) tenders and criticised the site visit certificate system, which he claimed favoured certain contractors. He pointed out that the financial bid opening for the SRP OC-II tender was postponed seven times, suggesting attempts to facilitate this cartel. Once competitive bidding was reinstated, the -12% bid emerged, revealing that previous tenders awarded at +7% to +10% were likely the result of manipulation.
He insisted that before the site visit certificate clause was implemented, OB tenders were finalised through competitive bidding at -7% to -20%, saving the public sector significant amounts. He alleged that the clause led to financial losses for Singareni and increased electricity costs for consumers, as GENCO had to buy power from the open market.Rao warned that the declining production and profits at Singareni could jeopardise the financial stability of the company and decrease the annual Dasara bonus for workers. He demanded transparency in tenders, the removal of the site visit certificate clause, and an investigation into contractor cartelisation, emphasising that Singareni belongs to the people of Telangana and should not be influenced by contractor networks.