Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) has alleged that the Congress government in Telangana is moving towards privatizing the power sector in the state by handing over power distribution operations in loss-making areas like Hyderabad Old City to Adani Group first.
BRS leader G. Jagadish Reddy on Sunday said Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy had recently announced in New Delhi that the government plans to hand over the distribution business in Old City to Adani Group on a pilot basis, citing poor revenue collection compared to energy supply. But the broader aim is to gradually privatize the entire distribution business to the private sector, he maintained.
Addressing a press conference along with former MP Badugula Lingaya Yadav and party leader Kiama Malesh, Jagadish Reddy said the pilot project planned for the old city will not be limited to that area but will be extended to other areas as well, free power supply to the farm sector and subsidy to other consumer segments will end and meters will be fixed for connections to agricultural pump sets.
He said former Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao had opposed installation of meters for agricultural connectivity, but the present era is trying to implement the Centre’s policy against the interests of farmers and some other consumer segments.
The former energy minister also said that while the revenue collection in Telangana was 95-97 per cent, the present governor was trying to insult the people living in old towns and using the excuse of privatizing power distribution by saying that only 45 per cent of the bills were being collected from there. He demanded that the government should provide clear details of revenue collection in the state including old towns.
The BRS leader said that while the Congress government is making fanciful claims of free power supply of up to 200 units per month, most consumers in the old city consume energy only up to that level.
