SCCL management conducts two-day awareness programme for workers to improve coal production

Employees and workers were explained about the present situation and future of the company through power point presentations by the SCCL officials

Peddapalli: In an effort to focus on more coal production, the Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) management has conducted a two-day awareness programme in 40 coal mines and 40 departments across the Singareni with a slogan “Ujwala Singareni-Karmikula Patra” (Brighter Singareni-Role of Workers) was conducted recently.

Employees and workers were explained about the present situation and future of the company through power point presentations by the SCCL officials.

According to officials, underground mines have become a huge burden for the company since the SCCL has to suffer a loss of Rs 6,000 on the production of a tonne of coal.

SCCL is spending Rs 10,000 on the production of a tonne of coal in underground mines. However, it is getting below Rs 5000 by selling the coal in the market.

So, the company has to suffer a loss of Rs 5000 to Rs 6000 on each tonne. Moreover, the coal production has come down to 102 tonnes per day in 2023-24 financial year from 142 tonnes in 2008-09.

At the same time, the working hours of workers have also been reduced to 6.7 hours from 8.5 hours.

Meanwhile, the operation of big machinery in opencast mines has been confined to only 12 hours in a day. It was necessary to increase working hours of machinery to get more profits, officials said.

Moreover, the cost of the SCCL coal is higher than that of Western Coalfields Limited (WCL) and Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL). While SCCL is selling a tonne of Grade-V coal at Rs 5,685, WCL and MCL are selling it at Rs 2,970. So, Singareni officials are worried that the customers may shift to other companies.

The company’s profits through the sale of coal have not crossed one percent. Instead of coal, SCCL is getting profits through other sources. While Rs 900 crore are being obtained through interest on fixed bonds, Rs 500 crore is through thermal power generation, they said.

By explaining all these issues in awareness programmes, company officials asked workers to strive hard for the growth of the company.