Harish Rao questions Telangana power situation, seeks withdrawal of true-up charges
Hyderabad: Former Minister T. Harish Rao on Wednesday questioned the Telangana power situation and demanded the immediate withdrawal of ₹5,420 crore in true-up charges from electricity consumers. The BRS Legislature Party Deputy Floor Leader made the demand while responding to Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka’s press conference.
Harish Rao alleged that the government had failed to address the core issues raised by the BRS. Instead, he claimed, it presented “unrelated documents and excuses” while responding to specific questions.
He particularly objected to the ₹5,420 crore burden in true-up charges on electricity consumers. Harish Rao urged the government to withdraw the additional charges during the festival season.
Harish Rao questions Telangana power situation
Harish Rao also challenged the government’s claims of uninterrupted electricity supply. He referred to protests by farmers in different parts of the state. “If power supply is uninterrupted, why are farmers protesting on the roads and demonstrating outside substations?” he asked.
The BRS leader claimed that disruptions reported at the ground level contradicted the government’s statements on electricity availability. He also raised questions about power generation at major thermal stations. Harish Rao alleged that mismanagement had affected generation at Yadadri, Bhadradri and Kothagudem.
He cited reported outages of 3,000 MW at Yadadri, 540 MW at Bhadradri and 800 MW at Kothagudem. According to Harish Rao, Telangana had a total generation capacity of about 140 million units. However, he claimed actual production stood at only 89 million units.
He argued that these figures required an explanation from the government as part of the wider debate over the Telangana power situation. Harish Rao further questioned the government over coal availability for the Yadadri thermal power plant.
He referred to a communication dated February 15, 2018, from the Union Ministry of Coal. According to him, the communication allocated 14 million tonnes per annum of G-9 grade coal from SCCL mines for the Yadadri plant.
The BRS leader cited the communication while challenging the government’s position on coal allocation and power generation. Harish Rao maintained that the government should directly address questions over true-up charges, generation outages, coal allocation and the Telangana power situation.