KT Rama Rao Photo Credit: SIDDHANT THAKUR
Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president KT Rama Rao on Monday alleged serious irregularities, procedural errors and violations of laws in the mining e-auction held in Suryapet district last year and demanded cancellation of tenders and immediate independent inquiry.
In a letter to Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, the former minister criticized the Department of Mines and Geology for conducting the e-auction in a manner that he said compromised transparency. Referring to the notification issued on August 30, 2024, he pointed out several flaws in the selection process.
“Nearly 1,100 acres of Reserved Forest (RF) land falls under mining blocks of Pasupulabodu, Saidulnama and Sultanpur. However, the tender documents allegedly did not include mandatory technical details such as exact latitude and longitude coordinates, DGPS survey verification, forest section data, detailed survey maps and UTM geographic coordinates,” he said.
He added that comprehensive geological reports required under the Mineral Auction Rules 2015 and the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act 1957 were not provided, making the process legally moot.
He expressed concern that the authorities went ahead with the auction despite a pending legal review and allegedly failed to follow directions issued by the Telangana High Court and questioned how the preferred bidders were announced before environmental and statutory clearances were completed.
He also raised doubts about the selection of two companies, which, according to him, are facing cases related to illegal mining in reserved forest areas.
He alleged that the auction was conducted without obtaining the mandatory No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the forest department, noting that such action could damage the environment and erode public confidence.
Published – March 2, 2026 7:19 PM IST
