Overview
- Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka instructed Singareni Collieries to cancel the Naini coal-block tender and call a new one under public-sector norms set by the Centre.
- He said SCCL informed him that the tender had only been issued and no bids were received before the cancellation directive.
- The Deputy Chief Minister stressed that tender terms are set by the Singareni Board and that ministers do not frame procurement conditions.
- A Telugu newspaper column linked him and a Nalgonda minister to the tender after a separate TV report about a minister and an IAS officer led to an SIT probe and arrests of journalists.
- Calling the media reports fabricated and politically motivated, he cited his association with Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy and said he would present full details, noting Naini is SCCL’s Odisha block that began production in April 2025.