Revanth Reddy seeks ₹7K-cr revenue losses from Centre
The chief minister declared a Dussehra festival bonus of ₹1,95,610 to each of 41,000 permanent employees of the Singareni Collieries
Hyderabad: Telangana chief minister A Revanth Reddy on Monday demanded that the Central government compensate for the revenue loss of ₹7,000 crore caused to Telangana following the introduction of the new GST regime.
Speaking after announcing profit-sharing bonus to the Singareni Collieries Company Ltd (SCCL) employees at the state secretariat, Revanth Reddy said the GST rationalisation would have an adverse impact on the state revenues.
“The Centre should come to the rescue of the states which bear the brunt of the new GST structure. We are demanding that the Centre to address the concerns raised by Telangana on losing revenue to the extent of ₹7,000 crore after the introduction of the new GST structure,” he said.
The chief minister declared a Dussehra festival bonus of ₹1,95,610 to each of 41,000 permanent employees of the Singareni Collieries. “We are also paying, for the first time, an annual bonus of ₹5,500 to 30,000 contractors. The total amount of bonus to be paid to the Singareni employees would be ₹819 crore,” he said.
Revanth Reddy said Singareni had recorded a profit of ₹6,394 crore, after taxes. Out of this, the company has decided to invest ₹4,034 crore for expansion. The net profit is ₹2,360 crore, and the state government has decided to allocate 34% of this as Dussehra bonus to workers, he said.
The chief minister announced that the state government would also give “Diwali bonus” to the Singareni employees. He said the role of private partnership posed a big threat to the existence of India’s prestigious SCCL. We have asked the SCCL to take part in the coal auctions and bid for coal mines to prevent them from being awarded to private firms,” he said.
He said his government was committed to the welfare of the Singareni employees and promoting the SCCL as a profit-making company in the future.
Deputy chief minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka said Singareni, the largest public sector enterprise in the state, was like the soul of Telangana. When the Central government put coal mines up for auction, the previous government did not participate. As a result, two coal blocks in the Singareni region went into the hands of individuals close to that government, he said.
“This caused a huge loss to Singareni, since those blocks hold huge coal reserves. The present government is determined to reclaim those two coal blocks that went to private parties—we have already written to the Centre and are exploring all possible means,” Vikramarka said.
He said Singareni would not be confined to coal mining alone. “Considering the global demand for critical minerals, we are focusing on mining in that sector as well. Based on Singareni’s past experience, the government has taken a policy decision to expand extensively in the mining sector,” he added.
