Andhra CM Rules Out Power Tariff Hike

Amaravati: In a big relief to many, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu not only said he will not accept the recommendation of AP Electricity Regulatory Commission (APERC) to recover Rs 6,000 crore towards recovery of fuel and power purchase cost adjustment during 2022-23 in next 15 months, but also categorically ruled out any power tariff hike in next five years.

He blamed the YSRCP government for totally destroying the power sector which resulted in a whopping loss of Rs 1,29,503 crore to the State besides imposing heavy financial burden on the consumers. He made the comments after inaugurating a 400/220 kv gas-insulated power sub-station built with Rs 505 crore at Tallayapalem of Thullur mandal near here on Thursday.

He alleged that under the previous regime, power, which needed to be purchased at Rs 4.70 per unit was bought at Rs 7.61 per unit and this burden was passed on to the common man. The Chief Minister also inaugurated another five sub-stations built on the same premises with Rs 702 crore and virtually laid the foundation stone for 14 other project works to be taken up by the AP Transco in the State at a cost of Rs 4,665 crore. Regretting that the previous government raised loans on every sector in all possible ways, even by mortgaging the buildings of various government offices, Naidu said that not only the MoUs entered into with solar and wind power projects were cancelled but also the companies were subjected to various kinds of harassment. As per the agreement entered into the solar power companies, the power needs to be utilised but the then government did not make use of the power generated by those plants but had to pay Rs 9,000 crore to the companies, the Chief Minister said. The power charges were revised nine times in five years imposing a financial burden of Rs 32,000 crore on the consumers during the past five years, he said.

Even without using the wind power Rs 500 crore was paid to the companies concerned while Rs 1,235 crore was paid to the Hinduja company as power was not purchased from them as per the agreement, Naidu pointed out.