The Telangana government has decided to wage a legal battle against the Centre’s direction to pay Rs 6,757 crore power dues to Andhra Pradesh.

State Energy Minister G. Jagadish Reddy announced on Tuesday that the state government will challenge the Centre’s move in the court.

The Union Power Ministry on Monday directed the power distribution companies (discoms) of Telangana to pay the dues to the Andhra Pradesh Generation Corporation (APGenco) within 30 days.

Citing the provisions C(2) and (7) of the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014, the ministry stated that there was no dispute regarding the amount to be paid for the power dues – the principal amount of Rs 3,441.78 crore and late payment surcharge of Rs 3,315.14 crore up to July 31, 2022 – to be paid in addition to the principal amount as per the applicable provisions.

Terming the Centre’s order as “absurd” and “politically motivated”, Jagadish Reddy said this was an act of vengeance against Telangana. He alleged that the Centre was conspiring to create a situation of power cuts in Telangana.

The energy minister claimed that the BJP-led government at the Centre was jealous of the rapid strides made by Telangana in the power sector.

He said the BJP also did not like Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao’s statement that with the available resources, free electricity can be supplied to farmers across the country. He alleged that the Centre was also targeting Telangana as KCR was exposing its wrong policies before the entire nation.

Jagadish Reddy said the Centre did not pay heed to Telangana’s stand that power dues to its discoms from Andhra Pradesh were to the tune of Rs 12,941 crore. “Without hearing Telangana’s argument, the Centre has acted unilaterally,” he said.

He alleged that BJP was jealous as its governments could not achieve what Telangana has achieved in the power sector.

He also claimed that the Centre had been creating problems for Telangana discoms for the last one year.

Meanwhile, Telangana Planning Commission Vice-Chairman B. Vinod Kumar said it was the Centre’s responsibility to resolve inter-state disputes. He argued that the issue does not come under the purview of the Ministry of Power as evident from Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act.

Vinod Kumar said the Union Home Ministry should take the initiative to resolve the issue of power dues between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. He maintained that it was Andhra Pradesh which should pay the dues to Telangana.

Telangana’s Energy Minister G. Jagadish Reddy on Thursday alleged that some leaders at the Centre were conspiring against Telangana by threatening power companies not to sell power to the state.

He told reporters that at a time when Telangana is trying to buy power to meet the growing demand in view of summer, some top leaders at the Centre were making phone calls to various power companies and threatening them not to sell power to the state.

The minister said by threatening companies not to supply power to Telangana, the Centre was not only harming the interests of the state but of the entire country.

Reddy also claimed that the Centre also directed financial institutions like the Power Finance Corporation (PFC) and the Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) not to release loans to Telangana power projects.

He pointed out that the state has taken up various augmentation programmes like setting up of new sub-stations, transformers and LT and HT lines with an estimated cost of around Rs 35,000 crore. This was planned to provide uninterrupted power to all sectors, even if the demand touched 17,000 MW.

“When we are taking these measures to augment the power sector, the Centre has asked the PFC and the REC not to release the amounts. The financial institutions are not releasing the money, even though the state has already entered into an agreement with them for loans,” he said.

The minister condemned the Centre’s discrimination against Telangana. He said instead of encouraging a state which is leading in per capita power consumption, the Centre was showing bias.

He said the state would take measures to secure loans as per the agreements entered into with PFC and REC.

The minister was confident that Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao would take all necessary steps to face the Centre’s conspiracies and protect the farmers and other consumers.

The peak power demand in Telangana has crossed 14,000 MW due to big surge in consumption in view of severe heat wave conditions prevailing in the state.

The peak demand touched 14,160 MW on March 29, the highest since Telangana became a separate state in 2014.