Hyderabad: Congress MLA Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy accused the BRS government of causing a crisis in the power sector due to massive loans. He stated that the government is now trying to address the sector’s loan burden.
During a discussion on power demands in the Assembly, Reddy criticized the BRS government for its negligence, highlighting that they promised free power, a concept initially introduced by the Congress during YS Rajasekhara Reddy’s tenure.
Reddy questioned why former Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao was absent from Assembly sessions. He argued that there is no need for a Leader of Opposition status for someone who does not attend the sessions, urging KCR to participate and speak in the Assembly.
The Congress leader pointed out that power allocation was based on consumption rather than population. He questioned why power companies were incurring losses and mentioned that a commission is investigating irregularities in Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs).
Reddy blamed the previous government for putting the power sector into debt and said the current Revanth government is working to alleviate this burden. He recalled stating in 2018 that the Yadadri Power Plant was not profitable, criticizing the additional Rs 11,000 crore expenditure for its completion. He added that according to the Bifurcation Act, the plant should have been built in Ramagundam instead of Yadadri.
Reddy accused KCR of acting like a king when in power and making decisions based solely on political gains. He alleged that old motors were used in the Yadadri plant and that the thermal project work was awarded on a nomination basis. He highlighted that project estimates were arbitrarily increased and that Rs 20,000 crore worth of work was given to BHEL without competitive bidding. He also noted that a thermal project should be located near coal sources, but the Yadadri project was established 280 km away from coal mines, near Damaracherla.
