After the Union Power Ministry directed the Telangana government to pay power dues, including late payment surcharge, to the tune of Rs 6,756 crore to Andhra Pradesh within a month, Telangana Energy Minister G Jagadish Reddy found fault with the order and called it unilateral. Telangana would take legal recourse on the matter, he said on Tuesday, August 30. Jagadish Reddy said Telangana has told the Andhra Pradesh government and the Union government during the last several years that it was AP power utilities that owe over Rs 12,000 crore to Telangana on various counts. The Union government, however, has turned a deaf ear to Telangana's pleas, he alleged.
He called the Union government’s order politically motivated, adding that the NDA government is creating hurdles for Telangana as it is the only state in the country providing 24x7 power. Announcing the decision to wage a legal battle, Jagadish Reddy said that the state government will challenge the Union government’s order in court. According to the Union government order issued to the Telangana government, the dues pertained to the power supplied between June 2, 2014, to June 10, 2017, by APGenco (Andhra Pradesh Power Generation Corporation) to Telangana DISCOMS as per the provisions of the AP Reorganisation Act.
Representations have been received from AP that Telangana has not paid for the power supplied to the state from June 2, 2014, to June 10, 2017, the order said. There is no dispute regarding the amount to be paid for the power dues — the principal amount of Rs 3,441.78 crore and late payment surcharge of Rs 3,315.14 crore (up to July 31, 2022), it said. Therefore, the Union government, in exercise of powers vested in it under the provisions of the AP Reorganisation Act, ordered Telangana that it shall pay the due amount as mentioned in the order to AP within a time frame of 30 days, according to the order.
Terming the Union government’s order as "absurd" and "politically motivated", Jagadish Reddy said this was an act of vengeance against Telangana. He alleged that the Union government was conspiring to create a situation of power cuts in Telangana. The energy minister claimed that the BJP-led Union government was jealous of the rapid strides made by Telangana in the power sector.
He said the BJP also did not like Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao's statement that with the available resources, free electricity can be supplied to farmers across the country. He alleged that the Union government was also targeting Telangana as KCR was exposing its “wrong policies” before the entire nation. Jagadish Reddy said the Union government did not pay heed to Telangana's stand that power dues to its discoms from Andhra Pradesh were to the tune of Rs 12,941 crore. "Without hearing Telangana's argument, the Centre has acted unilaterally," he said.