Differences over the apportionment of the Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL), the public sector miner, continue to affect Telangana and Andhra Pradesh more than seven-and-a-half years after the bifurcation of erstwhile united Andhra Pradesh. The vexatious issue continues to figure in the agenda of high-level meetings convened by the Union Home Ministry. Division of SCCL and its subsidiary APHMEL figured in the agenda of the recent meeting of Chief Secretaries of the two States convened by Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla. There was no discussion on the issue though, as the meeting focused more on financial issues such as power dues between the two States.
The Andhra Pradesh government insists on apportioning SCCL and its subsidiary Andhra Pradesh Heavy Machinery and Engineering Limited (APHMEL) on the basis of the population ratio (58:42), as incorporated in the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act of 2014. But the Twelfth Schedule of the Act categorically states that of the total equity of SCCL, 51% should be with Telangana and 49% with the Government of India. Section 92 of the Act states that the successor States should follow the principles and guidelines issued by the Central government on and from the appointed day (June 2, 2014), on matters relating to coal, oil and natural gas among other things. Moreover, the Act made it mandatory to bifurcate institutions that have operational jurisdiction in both the successor States. Andhra Pradesh cannot claim exclusive rights over the institution which had operational jurisdiction in both the States, officials assert.
