VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy will leave for New Delhi on Monday on a two-day visit. He is likely to have a series of meetings with Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and Power Minister RK Singh to discuss various issues pertaining to the State.
The Chief Minister is likely to submit a wish list to the Union ministers, which includes release of pending funds, financial assistance for projects proposed by the AP government and Centre’s intervention to resolve the pending interstate issues.
According to the information released by the Chief Minister’s Office, Jagan will leave for the national capital at 10 am after participating in the Police Commemoration Day celebrations at Indira Gandhi Municipal Corporation Stadium in the city. Though the agenda has not been released, the Chief Minister is likely to discuss various issues of the State with Home Minister Amit Shah. Jagan was scheduled to meet Amit Shah earlier this month after his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but he could not as the latter was busy with poll campaign in Maharashtra.
In the meeting, the Chief Minister may also present Amit Shah the details of the State’s finances, which are in the red, and the aid required from the Centre. He is likely to explain the State government’s decisions to review renewable power purchase agreements (PPAs) and reverse tendering for projects to the Home Minister.
For the record, the Chief Minister had already presented a wish list to Modi earlier this month requesting the release of additional grant-in-aid, reimbursement of revenue deficit, release of interim funds for Polavaram, support for river integration projects, enhancement of financial aid for backward districts and implementation of pending provisions of the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014.
Furthermore, the Chief Minister is likely to meet Jal Shakti Minister Shekhawat and submit the details of the money saved on Polavaram project by going for reverse tendering. Incidentally, Shekhawat, when BJP State leaders met him last week, stated that the Jal Shakti Ministry was yet to receive full details of reverse tendering of the national project. Jagan will also request the release of pending funds for Polavaram, and also funds for the Godavari-Krishna-Penna interlinking project and for the ones which will enable diversion of surplus Krishna water to Rayalaseema region.
In the meeting with Power Minister Singh, Jagan is likely to explain the State’s observations on the issue of review of renewable PPAs. In the past, Singh had advised Jagan twice against review of the PPAs without evidence of malpractices. In this context, the Chief Minister may apprise the Power Minister of the present status.
As per the schedule, Jagan will stay in New Delhi on Tuesday also to finish his official meetings. He will leave the national capital in the evening and reach Visakhapatnam at 7 pm to attend the wedding reception of YSRC Araku MP Goddeti Madhavi.
Govt to present report on Polavaram at PPA meet
Vijayawada: The State government is set to present a detailed report on the reverse tendering of Polavaram project at the scheduled meeting of the Polavaram Project Authority (PPA) in Hyderabad on Monday. The PPA will later forward the report to the Union Jal Shakti Ministry, which stated that it has not been given any official information by AP government on the latest developments pertaining to the national project. According to a PPA official, it is not the executive meeting of the authority, but it will take stock of the AP’s plans on resuming project execution.