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Union Minister for Power R.K. Singh has accused Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao of deliberately “spreading lies” about the Centre putting up meters for agriculture pump sets and privatising public sector power units.
“The Chief Minister is going around and telling lies when the Centre said that meters should be fixed, but not for agriculture pump sets. We have also not stopped disbursal of loans to various projects, including Kaleshwaram, but if someone is lying, we will stop the rest of the money,” he thundered at a press conference in the city on Thursday.
Flanked by Union Tourism Minister Kishan Reddy, Mr. Singh read out figures to indicate the extent of loans disbursed through the Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) of about ₹1.57 lakh crore out of which ₹19,700 crore is pending while for the Power Finance Corporation (PFC) of the ₹1.10 lakh crore, ₹21,000 crore is still pending.
“If we have stopped some part of the loans it is because of the financial condition of the State as analysis said it would not be able to repay. Is TS in near bankruptcy or not? What is the financial health? What is the point of making an allocation in the budget when there is no money?” he asked.
While stating that the FRBM (Fiscal Responsibility & Budget Management) Act limits is looked at by the Finance ministry, the Minister said that the loan disbursal will be stopped if “we feel repayment is not likely to happen or there are chances of a default”. The Centre was only going to allow private participation in the power sector under the proposed new Act but it does not mean the public sector units are going to shut down, he said.
Firing another salvo against the TS government, he said it was yet to give consent for taking up three more units of the upcoming NTPC thermal plant. The first unit is likely to be commercialised later this month, the next one will be commissioned in December. “If the TS Government is not interested, we will give it other States,” he maintained.
The power payment issue between the Telugu States was in the High Court, he said and pointed out that when Telangana was formed, the Centre had directed AP government to supply power but after paying for sometime, the former had stopped payments.
The Minister said that the Centre was forced to import coal and blend with the local coal because while the power demand growth has ballooned to 19%, coal production has not matched with 2.4 lakh tonnes shortage. Mr. Singh claimed that the Centre had ensured a single biggest integrated grid with one frequency in the last nine years making it possible to supply power of 120 MW from one corner to another. The power deficit has been converted into power surplus with 1.90 lakh MW with a demand of 2.4 lakh watts being met.
The Centre had also reduced the usage of fossil fuels and increase in usage of non-fossil fuels before the 2030 deadline. “By and large, the power sector has changed for the better to become vibrant and viable,” he added.
