Revanth Reddy orders judicial probe into irregularities in power sector

He was responding to a challenge by former minister for energy G. Jagdish Reddy

File photo of Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy along with other cabinet colleagues at the Telangana Assembly. | Photo Credit: RAMAKRISHNA G

Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy announced that the government was ordering a judicial inquiry into the power purchase agreements entered by the previous BRS government with Chhattisgarh apart from the construction of the Bhadradri and Yadadri thermal power plants.

Mr. Reddy was responding to a challenge thrown by Bharat Rashtra Samithi MLA and former minister for energy G. Jagadish Reddy during a discussion on the power sector after the government placed a White Paper on the table of the House. ‘As sought by Mr. Jagadish Reddy the government will get all the three issues inquired and the Ministers concerned and officials would provide the details,” he said.

The Chief Minister also offered to constitute an all-party fact-finding committee to study the 24-hour free power supply for the farmers claimed by the previous BRS government. Mr. Jagadish Reddy said that the BRS government provided 24-hour power supply to the agriculture sector and it had not resorted to any irregularities as is being claimed by the present Congress government.

Earlier, the government placed a White Paper in the House that showed the Telangana Discoms were facing an accumulated losses of ₹62,461 crores as on March 31, 2023. The debt stood at ₹81,516 crores as on October 2023.

Mr. Revanth Reddy said that the power purchase agreements with Chhattisgarh were done against all the norms knowing that the government had to spend huge money compared to cheaply available power in the market. These were done without any tenders and when the issue was raised in the then Assembly the members were thrown out using marshals.

An officer of the Electricity department and who played a key role in the Telangana agitation cautioned against the agreement saying that it would put an additional burden of more than ₹1,000 crore but he was transferred to a remote place and also demoted to insult him.

The Chief Minister also questioned the BRS government’s decision to use the sub-critical technology in the Bhadradri Thermal Power when the Central government banned the technology in 2009. He said the machines were acquired through the BHEL which had manufactured them for India Bulls company establishing a 1,000 MW project in Gujarat with sub critical technology. India Bulls wanted to do away with the technology, and for some consideration, the BRS government bought the outdated technology.

Even with the outdated technology the project that was supposed to be completed in two years took seven years with the cost per MW soaring to ₹9.74 crore. At the same time, the KTPC 7th phase was completed in 40 months with supercritical technology. Similarly, the 4,000 MW Yadadri Thermal Power project was to be built at a cost of ₹25,099 crore, within two years. But it took eight years from 2015 increasing the cost to ₹34,543 crore resulting in a production cost of ₹9 crore per MW.

Dismissing the BRS claims that power generation had increased in Telangana due to its investments, the Chief Minister attributed it to the increase in solar power production by 5,000 MW in the private sector.