Chief minister A Revanth Reddy on Thursday said the Congress government would launch a judicial probe into the previous BRS government’s power purchase agreements with Chhattisgarh as well as the construction of Bhadradri and Yadadri thermal power plants.
The chief minister was responding in the assembly to former power minister G Jagadish Reddy’s assertions that the Congress’s claims on the energy sector were unfounded and that he was willing to face a court investigation or by a commission of enquiry if the government orders it.
Earlier, deputy CM and energy minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, who released a white paper on state-run utilities, said they were bleeding due to a massive loan burden of Rs 81,516 crore and had a loss of Rs 62,461 crore (till October this year).
With a massive loan burden of 81,516 crore and loss of 62,461 crore (till October this year), both power utilities in Telangana were bleeding, the state government said in the assembly. A day after placing the white paper on finances of the state, the Congress government on Thursday tabled a white paper on the state-run power utilities, describing their financial health as distressing.
Introducing the 30-page white paper, energy minister Bhatti Vikramarka said to keep the power supply going, discoms were resorting to borrowings on a regular basis which had reached unsustainable proportions. “There is very limited scope to continue to fund the purchase of power through these means. Discoms are now finding themselves in a debt trap due to failure of the government to pay its dues and commitment to consumers,” he said.
Assuring Congress’s commitment to poll-eve promises, he said despite legacy of financial imprudence, the government was committed to providing quality and reliable power to people by overcoming challenges faced by sector with a transparent approach. The white paper alleged that after the formation of the state, only one power project of 1,080 MW capacity was commissioned at Bhadradri Thermal Power Station with inordinate delay and cost over-run using sub-critical technology. “Another power project of 4,000 MW in Nalgonda district (Yadadri Thermal Power Station) was taken up at a location far away from the coal mines leading to avoidable coal transport costs of over 800 crore per annum which are liable to further escalate with time,” the white paper said.
According to energy minister, of total debts incurred by power sector, 30,406 crore was day-to-day working capital loan taken to pay dues to generators that supplied electricity. Apart from this, dues of 28,673 crore were yet to be paid to power generation and supply companies, mainly due to non-payment of dues of this amount by government departments. Out of total dues, irrigation department accounts for major share of 14,193 crore arrears, he said. Discoms also have a burden of 14,928 crore which previous government promised to pay to them but did not. The installed power generation capacity at time of state creation was 7,778MW, which increased to 19,475MW by December 2023. Similarly, solar power capacity expanded from 74MW in 2014 to 6,123MW in nine years.
