Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Thursday ordered a judicial probe into the irregularities in the execution of the power purchase agreement (PPA) with Chhattisgarh by the previous BRS government.
According to another White Paper, this time on the Energy Department, was tabled in the state Legislative Assembly, the state’s power distribution companies have a whopping debt of Rs 81,516 crore while their accumulated losses stand at Rs 62,461.
The chief minister said a judicial probe will cover irregularities in two more projects, including the use of expired sub critical technology for the Yadadri Power Project and the delay and escalation of costs in the construction of Bhadradri thermal power station.
Reddy intervened as former energy minister G Jagadish Reddy challenged the government order while defending the previous government. Jagadish Reddy claimed that the BRS government increased installed power capacity and created assets.
The chief minister recalled how the Opposition members were thrown out of the House by the marshalls when they raised questions on the PPA with Chhattisgarh. An official was demoted and posted in a remote area for releasing facts about the agreement with Chhattisgarh. The BRS government had entered into an agreement with Chhattisgarh for the supply of 1000MW power supply without going for tender process. The Telangana government incurred a burden of Rs 1,362 crore due to the agreement with Chhattisgarh.
In 2014, at the time of bifurcation of the state, most of the power stations in unified Andhra Pradesh were in the residuary state leaving the newly-formed Telangana vulnerable. True to KCR’s apprehension the AP government under N Chandrababu Naidu had cancelled the PPAs prompting the then chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao to turn to Chhattisgarh to purchase power at a high cost.
In the White Paper it was pointed out that government departments have not been paying their power consumption charges regularly leading to a huge backlog of Rs 2,842 crore, including Rs14,193 crore from lift irrigation projects. It was due to the revenue gap the distribution companies borrowed Rs 30, 406 crore from banks and other financial institutions as working capital to keep the power supply going and had to bear the interest incurred.
The Opposition and Treasury benches also sparred over providing round-the-clock electricity to the farmers. Attacking the Opposition, Chief Minister Reddy said, “The top positions in nonpayment of electricity dues are held by Siddipet, Gajwel and Hyderabad South areas… The three leaders T Harish Rao, K Chandrasekhar Rao and Akbaruddin Owaisi should take responsibility of getting the dues paid.”