Accuses Deputy Chief Minister of misleading the public by selectively presenting documents and linking unrelated tenders to Singareni OB works

Harish’s demands

1. Cancel all tenders (including OB removal, solar power plant and other contracts) issued with the site visit certificate condition, including the Naini Gold Block tender
2. Scrap the site visit certificate system, calling it arbitrary, flawed and corrupt
3. Issue a comprehensive White Paper on site visit certificates, detailing
4. Number of contractors who visited sites since May 2025
5. Emails, letters and applications received
6. Certificates issued and reasons for rejection of others
7. Make public all complaints submitted by contractors (including NCC, GRN and Mahalakshmi) if the government fails to disclose them
8. Order an independent probe by CBI into alleged coal, OB, solar and other scams in Singareni
9. Allow contractors to independently procure diesel if it remains under their scope
10. Explain missing profits, unreported earnings

Former Minister and senior BRS leader T. Harish Rao on Sunday launched a sharp attack on the Congress government over the introduction of a “site visit certificate” condition in Singareni Collieries tenders, alleging that it was deliberately designed to benefit a select group of contractors linked to Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy’s family. Addressing a media conference at Telangana Bhavan, Harish Rao questioned Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka on the actual purpose of the certificate and asked whether it was meant for coal handling plants, evacuation systems, screening or washing plants, or genuinely for overburden (OB) removal works.

Harish Rao said documents released by the Deputy Chief Minister himself establish that the “site visit confirmation certificate” is a technical requirement applicable only to limited-scope works such as design, supply, installation and commissioning. He pointed out that the Central Mine Planning and Design Institute Limited (CMPDI) recommendations cited by the government clearly restrict the condition to such works and do not support its extension to OB removal contracts. Accusing the Deputy Chief Minister of misleading the public, he said unrelated tenders were being selectively cited to justify the controversial clause.

He noted that even the papers presented by the government contain no reference to site visit certificates for OB removal works. To underline what he termed the absurdity of the justification, Harish Rao cited a Sainik School tender for supply and installation of a cloth dryer that required a site visit. Using such examples to defend Singareni OB tenders, he said, was “laughable.” He stressed that historically, OB removal contracts in Singareni never carried such a requirement.

Questioning the timing and intent behind the change, Harish Rao asked why the site visit certificate was never included between 2018 and 2024, when hundreds of OB tenders were issued, and why it appeared only in 2025–26 after the Congress government assumed office. He recalled that in January 2025, the Bhupalpally OB tender was awarded through a reverse auction at seven percent below the estimated cost without any site visit condition. However, within three months, the VK OC tender issued in May 2025 included the clause, which he alleged reduced competition and resulted in higher-than-estimated rates.

Alleging blatant favoritism, Harish Rao claimed that the main beneficiary of the new condition was the Chief Minister’s brother-in-law, Srujan Reddy of Shodha Constructions. He alleged that after May 2025, OB removal tenders were effectively controlled by Srujan Reddy, whom he described as the “ringmaster” deciding which contractors received site visit certificates. Contractors, he claimed, were forced to quote rates seven to ten percent above estimates, accompanied by a system of cash commissions.

He alleged that several contractors had conducted site visits and submitted official emails, letters and photographs as proof, yet were denied certificates. Officials, he said, deliberately delayed issuance until the final hours of bid submission and then issued backdated certificates to only two or three favoured firms. He questioned why certificates were not issued immediately after site visits as mandated, and asked whose instructions caused the delays and whose interests were being served.

Demanding accountability, Harish Rao said not only the Naini Gold Block tender but all tenders finalised using site visit certificates must be cancelled. He said some tenders had already been awarded, some were at early stages and others were still under bid submission. Calling the system corrupt and fundamentally flawed, he demanded cancellation of all OB works, solar power plant tenders and other contracts issued under this condition.

He also sought a comprehensive white paper on site visit certificates, seeking details of contractors who visited sites since May 2025, the number of applications received, certificates issued and reasons for rejection. He said companies such as NCC, GRN and Mahalakshmi had officially complained about denial of certificates and warned that the emails would be made public if the government failed to disclose them.

Harish Rao alleged that mandatory consultations with contractors were not held before changing tender conditions and demanded that minutes of any such meetings be made public. 

He further claimed that meetings related to the alleged scam were held at a hotel and that he possessed photographs showing the Chief Minister’s relative attending them.

Stating that he had so far spoken only about OB and solar scams, Harish Rao alleged several other irregularities in Singareni, including changes in diesel procurement and turnover eligibility norms to sideline experienced local contractors. He accused the Deputy Chief Minister of diverting attention while failing to answer questions on the solar, explosives and employee demotion issues.

Citing production figures, Harish Rao said coal output rose from 50 million tonnes in 2021 to 70 million tonnes in 2023 under the BRS government but fell to 69 million tonnes in 2024–25 and to 43 million tonnes in 2025–26 so far under Congress rule. He questioned why only Rs 2,360 crore was shown as profit out of cumulative earnings of Rs 6,394 crore.

He further alleged diversion of workers’ bonuses and development funds, denial of corporate healthcare to workers, delays in medical boards and attempts to push Singareni towards privatisation. He demanded a probe by a sitting judge or the CBI and warned of a siege of Singareni Bhavan if workers’ demands were ignored, asserting that the opposition would not rest until Singareni was protected as a people’s asset.