Chandrababu Naidu plans ‘model’ power state

Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday avoided giving a direct reply on whether consumers in the state would be spared from a hike in power tariff against the backdrop of power distribution companies seeking a revision with the AP Electricity Regulatory Commission.

“We will see how much tariff revision is being sought; generation, demand, supply and deficit position will be taken into account before taking a decision,” he said.

The challenge before the government is to overcome the power crisis and injustices meted out to AP in the bifurcation process, he said. “Our objective is to make Andhra a model  in the power sector by providing 24-hour power supply. A team led by the joint secretary of the Union power ministry is arriving on July 4. AP government officials, along with the Central power ministry team, will prepare an action plan,” Mr Naidu added.

While releasing the white paper on the power sector, he blamed the Congress government of burdening the people with a Rs 28,835 crore power tariff hike including fuel surcharge adjustment (FSA) of Rs 12,714 crore in the last 10 years compared to the Rs 1,500 crore hike burden during the previous Telugu Desam regime.

Stating that injustice had been done in power allocation during bifurcation, Mr Naidu said the allocation of power  had resulted in a capacity loss of 1,142 MW to Andhra Pradesh.

“This will result in an annual energy shortage of 8,700 million units for the state. The financial implication on the state in view of the Power Purchase Agreements for meeting this shortfall from the open market would be an NPV of around Rs 10,000 crore,” he said.

On the PPAs, Mr Naidu reiterated that only those PPAs accepted by APERC would be operational and those not accepted would become null and void.

“Andhra Pradesh was the first state in the country in 1998 to usher in reforms in the power sector, when I was the Chief Minister. Electricity shortage was just 1.5 per cent in the state in 2004. But from there it has shot up to 17.6 per cent now. Power distribution companies were pushed into losses amounting to Rs 17,200 crore by March 2014 from zero deficit in 2004,” Mr Naidu added.