The Union Ministry of Power on Monday, August 29, has directed Telangana government to pay Rs 6,756.92 crore to Andhra Pradesh (AP) for supply of power post-bifurcation of erstwhile Andhra Pradesh. The order is in accordance with Section 2 of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014. The order was issued by the Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Power, Anoop Singh Bisht, directed the Managing Director of Telangana State Power Generation Corporation to clear the dues within 30 days, according to The New Indian Express.
According to The Hindu, the order was given after a representation by Andhra Pradesh because Telangana had not cleared the dues including the primary amount of Rs 3,441.78 crore and late payment surcharge of Rs 3,315 crore. The order issued by the Ministry of Power said that there is no dispute in the amount of the dues to be paid. However, hours later, the Telangana Power Department replied that the total dues to be received from Andhra Pradesh is Rs 12,532 crore after settling dues payable to Andhra Pradesh Power Generation Corporation.
G Jagdish Reddy, Telangana State Energy Minister, alleged that the Union government was “trying to push Telangana into darkness” and is being vindictive towards the state. He added that even though Telangana was yet to receive dues from Andhra Pradesh and was brought to the notice of the union government, no orders were sent to AP about the outstanding dues.
The Minister added that every state is facing electricity problems, including Gujarat, and alleged that the Union government is trying to stop the uninterrupted power supply to farmers. He also alleged that the state’s Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao decided to not fox meters to agriculture motors, the Union government has been troubling the state. Jagdish Reddy also claimed that the Union government is resorting to such acts since they “could not digest Telangana’s achievements”.