VIJAYAWADA: Leader of the Opposition N Chandrababu Naidu has accused the State government of misleading people with false reports and claims and described the claims of advisor to the government Ajey Kallam as wrong. Participating in the discussion on the Power Purchase Agreements in the State Assembly on Friday, Naidu said the claims that the TDP government policies and measures had resulted in Rs 3,000 crore loss were not true.
He claimed that because of the reforms brought by the TDP government in the power sector in 1999, AP became a power surplus State, but in 2014, there was a deficit of 22.5 million units, which was overcame in just two months.
“They (ruling party) say the Renewable Purchase Obligations (RPOs) were only 5 per cent, which is not true. A letter dated June 14, 2018, from the Ministry of Power clearly states that the long-term RPO trajectory (non-solar and solar) for 2016-17 was 11.5 per cent, which was increased to 17 per cent in 2018-19 and by 2021-22, it was 21 per cent,” he explained.
On the solar power cost, he said with the advent of technology, the cost of solar power was decreasing day by day. “Today the cost is Rs 2.74 per unit and when Rs 1.5 per unit is reimbursed by the Centre for meeting the RPO, the cost will come down to Rs 1.23,” Naidu claimed.
“The TDP government had encouraged solar power keeping long term benefits in mind and to lessen the burden on the common man in the State. It was also in tune with the Centre’s policy on renewable energy,” Naidu pointed out.
The TDP chief accused the officials of misleading the government by providing false data. He accused them of taking the highest price per unit as average cost. “The TDP government too made efforts for negotiating the price of solar power citing the decreased cost, but power generating companies took legal recourse,” he explained.
On the issue of gas allocation to Spectrum and Lanco and not considering GMR for the same, the Leader of Opposition clarified that gas was to be supplied by the Centre and when the proposal for GMR was made, the Centre had agreed to provide gas from Godavari Power Plant for six months only and GMR did not agree to the same.
Speaking to media persons, Naidu accused the Chief Minister of having the House adjourned after his speech, for not allowing the Opposition to react. “The Chief Minister failed to answer even a single question,” he said.