VIJAYAWADA: Finance Minister Buggana Rajendranath described TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu’s repeated claims that several companies are going back from the State due to the YSRC government’s negative attitude as a “pack of lies”.
Speaking to mediapersons in Hyderabad on Thursday, he said that Singapore’s Consortium’s decision was a mutually agreed one. “In their letter, Singapore consortium clearly stated that the project will cost them a few million dollars and the closure does not impact their investment. Singapore companies remain interested in the opportunities in AP and other Indian States, because of size and potential,” he said.
On renewable Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs), the minister said they have ordered an inquiry into those PPAs as the government does not want the public money to get wasted. "In March 2017, when the ‘Generation Based Incentive’ for wind power was getting closed, the then TDP government signed PPAs with as many as 41 companies in just 45 days. The agreements were for 25 years and the amount agreed was Rs 4.8 per unit. All we are asking is what was the need for signing such urgent agreements, that too for 25 years for Rs 4.8 per unit when same power is being purchased at Rs 2.5 per unit by other States. We are only reviewing that," he explained.
On the issue of Polavaram and the TDP chief’s claims that reverse tendering is leading to litigations, Buggana said the process has saved money to the State exchequer.
Pooh-Poohing the claims of Naidu that growth was more during the TDP regime and it was now decreasing, he said that fact remains that own tax revenues started dwindling during the previous government. According to him, all the TDP did was to leave a big debt on the head of the State at the end of its five-year rule. "From Rs 97,000 crore, the debt has been increased to Rs 2.61 lakh crore," he said.