Telangana, Andhra Pradesh in power blame game

Hyderabad: Telangana has blamed the current power crisis situation, which has escalated in the first month of creation of the state, on the Andhra Pradesh government.

The Telangana government has sent a report to the committee formed by the Government of India to look into the issues raised by both states, stating that the new state had lost all the power advantage that was given at the time of bifurcation due to the “wrong acts” of Andhra Pradesh.

APGenco had decided to cancel all PPAs (Power Purchase Agreement) of its projects signed with  Telangana discoms stating that they were not valid as the APERC (Andhra Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission) had not given its approval for them yet. While that is the major bone of contention, both sides are unable to reach a consensus on numerous issues like sharing of coal, scheduling times etc.

Read: Committee to discuss Telangana, Andhra Pradesh power issues on July 14

Meanwhile, the Telangana Electricity Employees’ Joint Action Committee (TEEJAC) has estimated an immediate loss of 20 million units of power, which will escalate to 31 MU in the future.

Read: Andhra Pradesh fails to bridge electricity demand-supply gap

The TEEJAC has said in a report submitted to the Central government level committee that, “though one of the reasons for the current situation is the demand-supply gap in power, the situation has further worsened due to several decisions taken by government of Andhra Pradesh against the interests of Telangana soon after the bifurcation. The magnitude of the problem can be understood from the fact that the power consumption in Telangana state has come down from 54 per cent to 47 per cent within one month of formation of the Telangana state.”

Read: Power crisis: People in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh suffering

The report further states that the estimated loss of rightful share of power for Telangana  is about 21 MU, much higher than the present demand-supply gap.

Telangana has also raised the issue of loss of short-term power, reduction in share from the Jhajjar power plant, and transfer of the Lower Sileru Hydro Electric Scheme.