BRS Leader Alleges Irregularities in Telangana Mining Auction

Hyderabad, Telangana, March 2: Bharat Rashtra Samithi working president K.T. Rama Rao has accused the state Mines and Geology Department of serious irregularities in an e-auction process for mining blocks in Suryapet district, demanding the immediate cancellation of the tenders and an independent investigation.

In a letter addressed to Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, Rama Rao outlined multiple procedural lapses and legal violations in the auction initiated through a notification dated August 30, 2024. The process covered three mining blocks: Pasupulabodu, Saidulnama, and Sultanpur, which reportedly encompass nearly 1,100 acres of reserved forest land. Rama Rao alleged that the tender documents omitted critical technical details, including precise latitude and longitude coordinates, validation from Differential Global Positioning System surveys, forest compartment data, detailed survey maps, and Universal Transverse Mercator geocoordinates.

He further claimed that the department failed to provide comprehensive geological reports estimating mineral resources, as required under the Mineral Auction Rules, 2015, and the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957. Such...