Published Jun 17, 2026 | 11:19 AM ⚊ Updated Jun 17, 2026 | 12:42 PM
Coal mining. Representational Image. (iStock)
Synopsis: Singareni Collieries is in deep trouble and falling into a deeper hole by the day. Inflated egos, the cooking of books and silence of the union government are worsening the rot.
The state-owned giant among Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) in Telangana, Singareni Collieries Company Ltd (SCCL) does not just mine coal. It also buries, deep below the debris of coal mines, the company’s coal mining production figures to create a “fake impression” of a company doing well.
Over the last few months, SCCL officials have been fully preoccupied in covering up what would have exploded into a massive accounting fraud, no different from the infamous Satyam Computers scandal of 2009.
Only a few years ago, the company had Fixed Deposits (FDs) of around Rs 4,000 crore. Today, it has an Overdraft (OD) of an equal amount and is borrowing almost every month to pay for salaries. The dues from State Government agencies for purchase of coal have now crossed a whopping Rs 50,000 crore.
The Satyam Computers saga also started small when minor adjustments in books began in 2002-03 to meet analyst expectations. Over the years, it snowballed into bigger fabrication of cash balances, fictitious revenue, FDs and interest income, before its founder, Ramalinga Raju, found it impossible to hide and came out with his confessional statement in January 2009, sending shockwaves in the corporate world.
The Singareni saga is no different. As is the case with most coal mining companies (including other PSUs) over-reporting of figures has been happening in the PSU for many years/decades, but it was always within manageable limits, ranging from 1 to 2 per cent of the overall production each year. This shot up to an unimaginable 8 to 10 per cent in 2024-25.
But why is it being done? For the State Government or the incumbent head of Singareni to earn bragging rights when none exist. Just as Ramalinga Raju wanted Satyam Computers to be seen alongside peers like TCS and Infosys. In the end, it could turn out to be as self-destructive.
Accidentally or otherwise, the exuberance to show a stellar performance showed up after the Congress came to power in December 2023 and the SCCL saw a change of guard.
N Balram, an IRS officer, who was a Director in Singareni until then on deputation from the parent service, was made the in-charge Chairman-cum-managing director (CMD) in January 2024. This was unusual considering SCCL was always headed by an IAS officer. Balram continued in the position till December 2025.
Next, Telangana cadre IAS officer D Krishna Bhaskar was given additional charge of SCCL for a brief period (December 2025 to February 2026) before the government posted another IAS officer Buddha Prakash as full-time CMD. He is continuing.
Let’s now dig into publicly available data.
Singareni reported production of 70.02 million tonnes (MTs) in 2023-24 and reflected despatch of 69.86 MTs. Not much variation. In the following year (2024-25), production stood at 69.01 MTs while despatches were only to the tune of 65.23 MTs, a variation of four million tonnes.
Go deeper into the balance sheet. For the year ended 2025, the balance sheet shows closing stock of 9.3 million tonnes, a number never ever recorded in the 100-year history of Singareni. Closing stock, also known as pithead stock, reflects the difference between the production and despatch.
In the previous year (2023-24), the closing stock had been 5.5 million tonnes. Considering that any coal mine, Singareni included, always maintains a pithead stock in the range of 2-3 million tonnes and given the usual overreporting of 1-2 million tonnes, this was understandable.
Not so the Financial Year 2025 numbers.
The sudden jump in closing stock raised hackles in the Coal Ministry in one of the routine reviews early this year (January) following the controversy surrounding the awarding of the Naini coal block of SCCL to private companies for mining.
That’s when alarm bells started ringing because much of the 9 million tonnes never existed on the ground. Matters were escalated to the highest level. Union Coal Minister G Kishan Reddy was briefed and so were the heads of State government. Understandably, all of them were shocked, according to high-level sources South First spoke to.
And then began the cover-up. In the eyes of everyone, Singareni is too big to be allowed to fall and rightly so. It is a company which provides direct employment to 40,000 and indirect employment to almost two lakh people.
We will understand what was done if we go through the figures for 2025-26. According to official records, the production dropped to 58 MTs while the despatches went up to 62.07 MTs (in other words, a gap of four million has been covered up between January-March, 2026 after the scandal was noticed internally).
It is instructive to understand that the production at Singareni was never below 60 million tonnes in the entire decade beginning 2015-16 except during the Covid year. Why did it drop by 11 million tonnes in 2025-26 compared to the previous year (58 MT from 69 MT) is a question that should have been naturally asked. But no one raised it.
And the adjustment continues.
In April this year, the production was shown at only 3.92 million tonnes, followed by 4.5 million tonnes in May though in reality it would/should have been more. Typically, coal mining companies resort to over-reporting during Jan-March to match the targets for the fiscal and under-report in April-May but in small measure.
“There was no need to show such inflated production figures and pay taxes/cesses for the same. Income tax was paid on the higher profit which never existed, and employees were given bonuses too. The only explanation that can be given is that the individual heading the company wanted to prove that he is better than others,” a source in Coal Ministry said.
By the time former minister and Bharatiya Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader T Harish Rao alleged towards the end of May that 4 million tonnes of coal was “missing”, the fraud had almost been covered up.
Apparently to shield himself from any blame, Kishan Reddy wrote a letter to the State Government later suggesting that an inquiry be held into the issue. Telangana Ministers claimed everything is hunky dory, knowing fully well that the company is in a “safe zone” having covered up the fudging.
The bigger question is why the Union Government is turning a blind eye to the goings-on in Singareni, despite having a 49 per cent stake in the company. A simple forensic audit would reveal everything.
For example, the quantum of explosives used by the company each year would indicate whether the production figures were inflated or not. According to coal experts, explosive consumption apart, other parameters like fuel intake and, more importantly, stripping ratio of individual mines (ratio between cubic metres of overburden removed to produce one ton of coal) will lay threadbare the artificial hike in production figures.
It is also a common practice for the Coal Ministry to send an external team whenever such scandals are noticed. In this case, it has chosen not to. Instead, the advice reportedly given was to “cover up” by reflecting lower production figures this year.
In fact, Coal India, the premier coal PSU, came out with a long set of guidelines (do’s and don’ts) on reporting production figures. Singareni officials appear to have consigned it to the bin. Creating an external agency to monitor the production/dispatch figures could be one antidote.
If we keep aside the fakery in accounts, Singareni, according to informed sources, is in deep trouble and getting into a deeper hole by the day unless people at the top put their heads together to revitalise it.
Add to this the growing reluctance of big coal purchasers like NTPC and the power generation companies of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka to buy coal from Singareni for two reasons—low quality and higher price. “When better quality coal is available from other coal companies, why should we buy from Singareni?” is a question they are asking now. When they pull the plug, the company will be dragged further into a debt hole.
Questions are also being raised over multiple high-value contracts awarded by Singareni in the last two years, whether it be the execution of solar power units or the purchase of explosives, even as wrongdoings were noticed in retiring employees on the grounds of being “medically unfit” for exchange of money. More on that coming up on South First soon.
(Edited by R Rajesh Kumar.)
