VIJAYAWADA: At an all-party round table held in Vijayawada on Thursday, political leaders and energy experts unanimously demanded that the government scrap the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) deal, register an FIR against those involved, and launch a full-scale investigation into what they called a “sellout” of Andhra Pradesh’s energy future for the next 25 years.
The meeting was organised by the Centre for Liberty (CFL) and moderated by its founder Nalamotu Chakravarthy.
Speakers at the session condemned the State’s ongoing inaction despite earlier opposition to the deal by the ruling coalition when it was signed under the previous YSRCP government.
They alleged that former Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy accepted a Rs 1,750 crore bribe from the Adani Group to push the agreement, describing it as a betrayal of public interest.
Retired IPS officer AB Venkateswara Rao called the alleged bribe a strategic election fund, breaking it down to Rs 10 crore per Assembly constituency across the State’s 175 segments.
He argued that the deal, worth an estimated Rs 1 lakh crore over 25 years, effectively compromised the State’s autonomy for just 2 per cent of that value.
He also questioned whether any elected government had the moral authority to bind a state for decades without public consent, calling for referendum-like mechanisms in such cases.
CPM leader Ch Babu Rao cited a white paper released by Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, which projected the public burden at Rs 1.2 lakh crore due to the SECI deal.
Rao criticised the sharp contrast between declining solar power costs—from Rs 12 to Rs 1 per unit over the past decade—and the locked-in rates of the deal.
Babu Rao also opposed the push for smart meters, allegedly linked to Adani-supplied systems, where costs are borne by consumers. Retired IAS officer PV Ramesh highlighted the fragile condition of DISCOMs, burdened with Rs 40,000 crore in debt, worsened by halted investments and politicised privatisation. He pointed to the 2021 SECI agreement to procure more solar power despite a 2019 surplus, accusing the Andhra Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission (APERC) of operating under government influence.
Ramesh called for the formation of an SIT headed by senior IPS officers and a judicial committee to investigate prior power purchase agreements.
The meeting advocated for solar decentralisation, empowering farmers to generate their own electricity, reducing dependence on free power and curbing corporate land grabs.
Representatives from the Congress, CPI, Jana Chaitanya Vedika, and energy experts were present.
Empty chairs symbolised the absence of TDP, BJP, YSRCP, and JSP, who did not attend despite invitations.