Andhra to press for power dues from TS

Amaravati: Union Minister of Home Affairs and Minister of Cooperation Amit Shah will chair the 29th meeting of the Southern Zonal Council comprising the States of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Telangana, and Union Territories of Puducherry, Lakshadweep, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, scheduled to be held at Tirupati on Sunday.

The agenda consists of a broad range of issues which include boundary-related disputes, security, infrastructure-related matters like road, transport, industries, water, power, matters pertaining to forests and environment, housing, education, food security, tourism and transport. Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Jagan Mohan Reddy is the Vice-Chairman and host. Other Chief Ministers from the States in the Zone along with two Ministers each are the Members.

Chief Secretaries and senior officers from the State Governments and the Central Government will also attend the meeting. The State Government will utilise the occasion to talk to the officials from Telangana over the dues from Telangana power utilities to Andhra Pradesh amounting to Rs 6,015.22 crore. The government will also request the Union Government to intervene and direct the Telangana government to arrange payment to APGenco.

Alternatively, it will suggest to the Government of India to direct the Telangana State to include the Rs 6,015.22 crore generator dues to APGenco under Tranche II loan of Atma Nirbhar Scheme that is being availed by Telangana State Discoms.

According to sources, the power dues from Telangana are on account of power supplied to the State after bifurcation up to June 10, 2017.

Telangana Discoms have agreed to pay the amount but are unable to pay. The APGenco is under great financial distress and is unable to pay for its debt servicing and coal suppliers.

According to officials, the Centre can intervene in this issue since power was supplied as per directions of the Government of India.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has stressed the need to leverage cooperative and competitive federalism to achieve all-round growth. The Home Minister has given impetus to this vision of cooperative federalism to empower states and promote a better understanding between the Centre and states in policy framework, the statement said.

The zonal councils provide a platform to foster such collaboration through a structured mechanism for dialogue and discussion continuously on the issues affecting two or more States or the Centre and States, in the spirit that strong States make a strong nation, it said.

Andhra Pradesh is also likely to raise the issue of implementation of the AP Reorganisation Act 2014 and its demand for Special Category Status (SCS).