G Kishan Reddy attacks Telangana CM for state's outstanding dues towards GENCOs, DISCOMs
Jul 31, 2022
New Delhi [India], July 31 : Union Minister G Kishan Reddy on Sunday attacked Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao-led Telangana government over its outstanding dues towards power generation and distribution companies.
On July 30, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took part in the closing ceremony of 'Ujjwal Bharat Ujjwal Bhavishya - Power @2047' a programme organised by the Ministry of Power and Renewable Energy.
While addressing the event virtually, PM Modi remarked that different states have outstanding dues of more than Rs 1 lakh crore that they owe to power generation companies (GENCOs).
Apart from this, Power distribution companies (DISCOMs) are owed more than Rs 60,000 crore from many government departments, and local bodies. He said that these companies are not able to get even the money that has been committed for subsidy on electricity in different states on time and in full. This arrear is also more than Rs 75,000 crore. The Prime Minister observed that in activities ranging from the generation of electricity to door-to-door delivery, about Rs. 2.5 lakh crore rupees is trapped.
Now, Reddy seems to have upped the ante since the Prime Minister's speech in a direct attack on Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, on the debts of Telangana's Power sector Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs).
Taking to Twitter, G Kishan Reddy said, "Further to the appeal of PM Narendra Modi, I urge the Farmhouse CM to rise above politics and get the Telangana government to clear whopping pending dues of Rs 7,388 crores to GENCOs and Rs 11,935 crores to DISCOMs."
Kishan Reddy also referred to the State Finances Audit Report for the year ended March 31, 2021 by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) that made several observations on the performance of DISCOMs.
"Even the CAG has flagged DISCOM performance in Telangana in its last public report (FY 2020-2021): Approx 70 per cent of Telangana State's PSU losses are because of two DISCOMs - TSSPDCL and TSNPDCL - Rs 30,000 crore of net worth erosion has taken place in these two DISCOMs," said Reddy.
Telangana State Southern Power Distribution Company Limited (TSSPDCL) and Telangana State Northern Power Distribution Company Limited (TSNPDCL) are the two distribution companies of Telangana. Among all states, Telangana owes the maximum to Distribution Companies (DISCOMs), with an outstanding of Rs 11,935 crores. Apart from this, the state of Telangana also owes Rs. 7,388 crores to Generating Companies (GENCOs) and is ranked 4th in GENCO owings after Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh. Both of these add up to Rs. 19,323 crores.
