E-Paper
Losses in power sector under YSRCP: Naidu
The chief minister said his government would strive to bring down transmission losses and cost of generation, and facilitate a transition to hybrid and green power generation
Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday alleged that the previous YSR Congress party government had imposed a tariff burden of ₹32,166 crore on the power consumers of the state, besides pushing the state power distribution companies into a debt of ₹49,596 crore in the last five years.
“Besides, the Jagan Mohan Reddy government caused a loss of ₹47,741 crore to the power sector due to its lopsided policies. Thus, the overall financial burden on the power sector stands at a staggering ₹1,29,503 crore,” Naidu said, while releasing a white paper on the status of power sector in the state.
Stating that the target before the present government is to revive, restructure and rebuild the state power sector, the chief minister said his government would strive to bring down transmission losses and cost of generation, and facilitate a transition to hybrid and green power generation.
In the white paper, Naidu pointed out that the previous Jagan government had imposed a burden on the power consumer nine times with power tariff and surcharge hikes in the last five years. This includes ₹16,699 crore in the name of power tariff hike, ₹5,886 crore in the name of true-up and fuel surcharge and another ₹3,977 crore in the name of true-up charges , besides ₹5,604 crore in the name of electricity duty.
“The average power tariff, which was ₹3.87 per unit till 2019 went up to ₹5.83 per unit during the Jagan Mohan Reddy regime. In fact, there was a proposal to impose an additional burden of ₹17,137 crore for 2023-24 in the name of true-up and fuel surcharge and it would have been enforced had the YSRCP come back to power again,” he said.
With regard to the increased debt of state power distribution companies between 2019-2024, the chief minister said the total loans of discoms went up from ₹62,826 crore in 2019 to ₹1,12,422 crore in 2024. Besides, Naidu said that they resorted to short-term borrowings of ₹10,892 crore at a higher interest rate of 10.11% to manage cashflows.
“There was also an additional burden due to short term power purchases costing ₹12,250 crore,” he said.
Talking about the way forward, the chief minister said there was a need to take up power sector reforms again and address the legacy losses of ₹1,29,503 crore.
“We have to bring back the investors’ confidence and rebuild brand Andhra Pradesh, by ensuring no power cuts and providing quality and reliable supply at affordable rates,” he added.
The white paper also noted that a delay in the commissioning of thermal power plants resulted in an additional burden of ₹12,818 crore.
It particularly mentioned the delay in the commissioning of the Polavaram Hydro Electric Project, which led to an additional expenditure of ₹4,737 crore.
