Chairman of the Assembly Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Payyavula Keshav on Saturday said Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy had first pushed the surplus power sector of the State into a serious crisis and was now trying to mislead the Centre on the issue.
At a press conference, Mr. Keshav questioned the rationale behind Mr. Jagan’s letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, instead of taking corrective measures to prevent the imminent collapse of the power sector.
Mr. Keshav alleged that Mr. Jagan’s letter on coal crisis and power demand was full of lies, and demanded an explanation from the Chief Minister on why his government was buying power in the open market at a very high price at the expense of the State thermal plants.
“As a result, these companies have stopped importing coal, thus precipitating the crisis,” Mr. Keshav observed.
‘APERC failed to act’
He said the AP Electricity Regulatory Commission (APERC) had not taken any action against the government for its failure to pay ₹20,000 crore dues towards subsidies and bills. Instead, a financial burden of ₹50,000 crore was shifted on the shoulders of the common man in the name of true-up charges and the like, he added.
Stating that there was no truth in the Chief Minister’s claim on increase in demand for power in the post-COVID-19 period, the PAC chief said the Chief Minister should use his good relations with the Telangana government for immediate supply of coal if the situation was really so grim.
The State could make use of the well established rail and logistics linkages to get supplies from the Singareni collieries, he said.
“What was wrong in the TDP rule has become right now,” Mr. Keshav said, and recalled that Mr. Jagan had criticised former Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu for the deal related to 8,000 MW renewable energy, but was now buying 10,000 MW from Adani company.
Criticising the APERC role, he asked what was it doing when the State government did not pay the ₹12,000 crore dues to the Discoms towards subsidies. The government firms and offices had to pay dues worth an additional ₹8,000 crore, Mr. Keshav said.
‘Revenue losses’
The TDP leader said the YSRCP government’s “faulty policies” had caused huge revenue losses to the Krishnapatnam Thermal Power Station and the Hindujas.
He said the thermal power companies in the State had stopped importing coal in the absence of payments and purchases, and support by the State government.
The State was not in a position to run the Rayalaseema Thermal Power Plant (RTPP) and the Vijayawada Thermal Power Station (VTPS) beyond their 50% capacity, he added.
