Power dues issues should be resolved by Union Home Ministry not power ministry: Vinod

Hyderabad: The Telangana State Planning Board Vice Chairman B Vinod Kumar on Tuesday said that it was the Union Home Ministry that should resolve the issues of electricity between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh but not the power ministry. It is Andhra Pradesh that owes Telangana in terms of payment dues.

Responding to the Union Power Ministry's orders asking Telangana to clear dues of Andhra Pradesh, Vinod Kumar said that the Union Home Ministry has the responsibility to resolve the State issues under the AP Reorganisation Act. It is not proper to take a one-sided decision on the power issues, he said. "The Union Power Ministry should hear the arguments between the two States and come to a conclusion but without hearing the Telangana version and supporting the arguments of Andhra Pradesh and dictating the State to pay the dues within a month is unacceptable. This is nothing but a mistake," said Vinod Kumar.

He added that ignoring the claims and counterclaims of Telangana would mean injustice to the State. AP owes Rs 12,940 crore to Telangana but taking into consideration the arguments of AP only is not correct, he said and recalled that the AP Genco had filed a case in Telangana High Court and protesting the approach of AP Genco, the TS Genco and TS Discoms filed a writ petition in the Court.

Vinod Kumar alleged that after the formation of Telangana the then AP CM Chandrababu Naidu stopped power supply to Telangana against the Reorganisation Act, which resulted in Telangana procuring electricity at a higher price, said Vinod.