White Paper on Power: Bhatti Vikramarka pegs power sector debt at Rs 81,516-Cr

HYDERABAD: Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka said that the ten years of rule of the BRS Government has plunged the power sector into darkness by pushing the sector into a debt trap without adding additional units of power.

Presenting a white paper in the State Assembly under short discussion on Thursday, he said that the Congress Government created an installed capacity of 4365.26 MW, and started another 2960 MW works even before the State was created. He pointed out that an additional 1800 MW capacity was planned under UPA which was included in the reorganisation act.

“The commissioning of these projects after the formation of the state has been critical in providing a reliable power supply. In addition, special provisions in the A.P. Reorganisation Act 2014 regarding power sector enabled the state to get over 1,800 MW power beyond the installed capacity in the state at that time,” he said.

He argued that after the formation of the state, only one power project of 1,080 MW capacity was conceived and commissioned at Bhadradri Thermal Power Stations (BTPS) with inordinate time and cost overrun using subcritical technology. Another power project of 4,000 MW in Nalgonda District (Yadadri Thermal Power Station) was taken up at a location far removed from the coal mines leading to avoidable coal transport costs of over Rs. 800 crore per annum, he pointed out.

Accumulated losses

He said that the State after the rule of the BRS had accumulated losses of Discoms at Rs. 62,461 crore as on as on March 31, 2023, and the Discoms accumulated a debt of Rs. 81,516 crore as of October 31, 2023.

“Of this, an amount of Rs. 30,406 crore has been borrowed as working capital primarily to pay power charges to the generators. Despite this, an amount of Rs. 28,673 crore of generation and transmission dues remain to be paid by Discoms,” the Deputy CM added.

The white paper mentioned that the difficulty faced by Discoms in paying power purchase bills was aggravated by the default of the Government in paying the power bills of its own departments which have now mounted to Rs. 28,842 Cr. Of this, the amount due from lift irrigation projects alone was Rs. 14,193 crore. The government's default in paying committed true-up charges of Rs. 14,928 Cr had further contributed to the further deterioration of discom finances.

“In these circumstances, merely to keep the power supply going, discoms are resorting to borrowings regularly which have reached unsustainable proportions. Discoms are now finding themselves in a debt trap due to the failure of the government in paying its dues and commitments to the sector,” Bhatti Vikramarka said.

He said that despite the legacy of financial imprudence, the present Government was committed to providing quality and reliable power to the people of the state by overcoming the challenges faced by the sector with a responsible and transparent approach.