VIJAYAWADA: Minister for Energy Gottipati Ravi Kumar blamed the previous YSRC government, led by YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, for the drop in the ratings of power distribution companies (Discoms) and alleged that its “immature decisions” resulted in the debts of power utilities piling up over the last five years.
In a press release, he said debts have piled up so much so that the State government has no other go, but to again borrow to run the Discoms. He pointed out that debts in the five-year regime of YSRC increased by 79%.
The Minister recalled that during the TDP-led government between 2014 and 2019, there was no hike in power tariff, but during the last five years of the YSRC government, power charges were increased nine times.
He said the previous government hiked power tariff to support Discoms, but they were not benefitted and were instead pushed into debt traps.
Kumar noted that the total dues, including those of subsidies left pending by the previous government, amount to Rs 34,954 crore. “To clear the debts of Discoms, they borrowed and it was like a never-ending cycle. Our government is making every effort to put an end to this situation and bring the Discoms out of red,” he said.
The Minister pointed out that the decline in the ratings of Discoms from A category explains everything that went wrong during the previous dispensation. “The situation has thrown a challenge at us. However, such challenges are not new to our government and we will effectively tackle them. The Chief Minister, too, has prioritised reforming the power sector and bringing back the Discoms’ rating to A category,” he explained.
He asserted that under no circumstance, the people of the State would be burdened.