Minister rules out fixing smart meters to farm pump sets

Vijayawada: Minister for energy Gottipati Ravi Kumar ruled out speculation on fixing of smart meters for agricultural motors.

Giving clarification on smart meters in Legislative Council on Monday, the minister said that the previous YSRCP government’s actions resulted in additional burden of Rs 1.29 lakh crore burden on present NDA government.

He said that due to cancellation of power purchase agreements (PPAs), investors had shifted their investments to other states. Though the Centre found fault with the decision of former Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy on cancellation of PPAs, he failed to respect the warning of the Central government.

The minister said that the state government has been giving priority to green and renewable energy and brought out an amendment bill. As per the bill, no additional charge will be imposed on power consumers.

He said that the YSRCP government tried to imposed additional burden of Rs 17,000 crore on power consumers by destroying power sector. He said that the discoms’ debts increased to Rs 6,000 crore during 2023-24 with faulty policies of Jagan Mohan Reddy.