Gas to AP to solve power crisis in Telangana
Hyderabad : There seems to be a ray of hope for Telangana State which is reeling under severe power crisis. The Centre has decided to supply uninterrupted natural gas to six gas-based power plants in Andhra Pradesh, with a combined capacity of over 2,700 MW, which have been lying idle for want of gas linkages.
The good news is that Telangana is eligible to receive its legitimate share of approximately 1,300 MW from AP's gas-based power plants.
Highly placed sources in the Government said that gas has been assured for operating the six plants, which have remained idle for more than 18-months now. Though these six privately owned plants are located in Andhra Pradesh, 54 per cent of their production has been assigned to Telangana.
This timely bonus comes at a time when there is an approximate shortage of 1,800 MW in the new State, which has peaked due to increased agricultural demand for the kharif season. The industrial sector has also been badly hit by the power shortage, with the Discoms imposing a two-day power holiday per week to meet the demand.
It is learnt that Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu is eager to score political points by projecting himself as a saviour of Telangana by providing a lifeline to its agricultural and industrial sectors.
'Obviously, the TDP president wants to score points over his arch-rival Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhara Rao and project itself as the saviour of people of Telangana,' said the source.
However, Telangana Electricity Employees JAC coordinator K Raghu said that Naidu's permission was not required for Telangana to get its legitimate share.
'There is an agreement to receive 54 per cent of the production from these six plants. Naidu wants to fool the people by projecting himself as being magnanimous,' he said. Raghu said that since these plants were privately owned, the AP government would have no say in the matter.
'The AP government has violated the Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) of government generated electricity, but they cannot stop Telangana getting its rightful share from private companies,' he argued.
News Posted: 9 October, 2014
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