CPI urges CM to stop coal block privatisation

The Communist Party of India (CPI) has requested Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao to prevent the attempts of the Centre to privatise 11 coal blocks of Singareni Collieries, as part of its stimulus package.

In a letter addressed to the CM on Wednesday, State CPI secretary Chada Venkata Reddy said that SCCL was established by the erstwhile Nizams in 1943 and provided employment to about one lakh workers at one time.

However, the Centre was conspiring to privatise 50 coal blocks across the country and a Central team was already visiting the coal mines.

The Centre, as part of its privatisation plans, had identified 11 coal blocks of Singareni and plans were afoot to hand them over first to Coal India before privatisation.