Amaravati, Dec 26 (PTI) Andhra Pradesh Energy Minister Gottipati Ravi Kumar on Thursday alleged that former Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy has turned a power surplus state into a deficit one in five years’ time due to his “poor decisions and corruption”.
The energy minister said that Reddy had cancelled power purchase agreements and allegedly threatened solar and wind energy companies to ‘drive’ them out of the state and cause a loss of 10,000 MW of renewable energy.
“When the Telugu Desam Party (led government) handed over power in 2019, Andhra Pradesh was a power surplus state. However, Jagan’s government turned it into a power deficit state within five years due to poor decisions and corruption,” said Kumar in a release.
Kumar accused the YSRCP supremo of burdening people with his ill-advised decisions during his tenure between 2019 and 2024.
Further, the minister observed that Reddy bought electricity at inflated prices between Rs 8 and Rs 14 per unit when it was reportedly available at Rs 5 per unit, adding that ‘these overpriced purchases were made to benefit close associates and earn commission’.
According to Kumar, true-up charges approved by the Andhra Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission (APERC) during Reddy’s reign had become a heavy burden on people, amounting to Rs 3,081 crore in 2021-2022, Rs 6,073 crore (2022-23) and Rs 9,412 crore (2023-24).
At a time when the YSRCP is poised to launch statewide protests against power tariff hike on December 27, the energy minister termed these plans as hypocrisy, noting that “Jagan himself created this crisis with his policies, and now he is staging dharnas (protests) to mislead the people. What else can this be called but a Tughlaq act?” Moreover, he assured people that the TDP-led NDA government is taking steps to fix the alleged damage caused by the erstwhile YSRCP regime to ensure transparency and accountability in the power sector. PTI STH KH
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