BRS working president K.T. Rama Rao on Wednesday accused the Congress government of pushing Telangana into a power crisis through mismanagement, poor planning and financial irregularities involving Singareni Collieries and GENCO. He alleged that shortages of coal at thermal power plants and declining power generation were causing severe hardship to farmers and industries across the State.
Addressing a press conference at Telangana Bhavan here, Mr. Rama Rao said electricity was the backbone of agriculture, irrigation, drinking water supply, industries, IT and domestic consumption. He claimed that during the BRS regime, Telangana’s installed power generation capacity had increased from 7,778 MW to 19,472 MW, with investments of nearly ₹1 lakh crore in the sector and uninterrupted free power supply to about 30 lakh agricultural pump sets.
Alleging that the present government was failing to maintain the infrastructure created by the previous administration, Mr. Rama Rao said farmers in many areas were receiving only six hours of power instead of the promised 24-hour supply. He claimed farmer protests were taking place at substations and warned that inadequate power could result in crop losses and a possible crop holiday.
Questioning the decline in electricity generation, Mr. Rama Rao said the 4,000 MW Yadadri Thermal Power Station was producing only about 400 MW, while a unit at the Bhadradri Thermal Power Station had stopped functioning. He also alleged that the 1,200 MW Singareni Thermal Power Plant at Jaipur was generating only around 544 MW due to coal shortages.
He further accused Singareni of supplying low-grade coal to GENCO, resulting in generation losses worth ₹2,900 crore. He reiterated BRS allegations that 40 lakh tonnes of coal had gone missing and claimed the State government owed Singareni about ₹52,000 crore.
Rejecting the government’s explanation that the crisis was caused by El Niño conditions, Mr. Rama Rao said the real reasons were administrative failure, corruption and mismanagement. He announced that six BRS teams would visit thermal power plants and Singareni facilities across the State on Thursday to assess coal stocks, power generation levels, plant performance and financial issues, and place their findings before the public.
