But for the provisions in the A.P. State Reorganisation Act, 2014, Andhra Pradesh would have been a power surplus State, said the Transmission Corporation of Andhra Pradesh Limited (AP-Transco) on September 8.
In an apparent bid to counter the outrage of the people and opposition parties over the power tariff hikes and power generation issues, the AP-Transco, in a release, asserted that Andhra Pradesh was a power surplus State even after bifurcation.
“Just because of the distribution of electricity to Telangana as per the Act, we do not have the requisite power resources,” the AP-Transco said in the release.
Power generation capacity was high in the bifurcated Andhra Pradesh, the release added. “But the Act states that the existing Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) shall be applicable to both the States, and power generation shall be shared according to the existing PPA ratio,” the release said.
The addition of Anantapur and Kurnool districts to the A.P. Southern Power Distribution Corporation increased the proportion of the load share, it said.
As per the PPAs, 53.89% was the share of Telangana and 49.11% for Andhra Pradesh. As per the load on the date of bifurcation, Andhra Pradesh had a base load shortfall of 22 million units per day, which is about 1,000 MWs, the release said.
“Had it been stated in the Act that the power generated in Andhra Pradesh belonged to it, the bifurcated State would have had a surplus, while Telangana would have become a power deficit State,” the AP-Transco said.
‘No power cuts’
It further said that there were no power-cuts in the State. “Sufficient power supply is being provided. All officials are on alert to ensure that the supply situation is under control. The government has allowed the power utilities to procure and supply electricity as per requirement from the open short-term competitive market at any cost (ceiling ₹10/unit). Utilities are doing their best to ensure uninterrupted power supply to the household, agricultural, commercial and industrial sectors without causing any trouble to the people,” it said.
The total debt of power utilities at the time of bifurcation was around ₹29,700 crore, but by March 2019 it had risen to ₹68,600 crore (a 131% increase) and to ₹97,500 crore (a 42% increase) by March 2023. The debt burden of power companies increased exponentially between 2014 and 2019, the release said.
