Hyderabad: Union Coal and Mines Minister G Kishan Reddy has accused the previous Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and the present Congress governments of pushing Telangana’s power sector into disarray through their “irresponsible and chaotic policies.”
Speaking at a press conference at his residence on Thursday, December 18, Kishan Reddy claimed that the state’s discoms owe more than Rs 30,000 crore, but in reality, dues exceeding Rs 47,000 crore are pending to Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) alone for coal and power purchases.
He alleged that both the former BRS regime and the current Congress government have been “treating Singareni like a golden goose”, exploiting its resources without clearing outstanding payments.
“Instead of stabilising the electricity system, the chief minister keeps hosting Rising Summits, which serve no purpose for the people,” he remarked caustically.
Kishan Reddy said Telangana’s power generation, supply, and distribution companies were “drowning in losses,” leaving employees in distress as salaries are delayed.
Referring to deputy chief minister Bhatti Vikramarka’s statement that demand for electricity in the state could rise to 1 lakh megawatts by 2047, the union minister said the state lacked the necessary infrastructure to meet such targets.
He noted that additional power generation was crucial for industrial growth. “Without enough power, industries will neither come to Telangana nor survive here,” he warned.
Although the government allocated Rs 21,000 crore to the energy sector in the current state budget, he said the amount was insufficient to clear old dues or sustain the free electricity schemes.
Kishan Reddy also accused the state government of planning to create a new discom to manage free power distribution, while burdening the existing discoms with loans taken to meet industrial and domestic power needs.
The financial strain, he said, has depleted Singareni’s capacity to contribute to the District Mineral Fund, which was set up to address problems in mining regions.
“Because of this, eight to nine districts are going without funds,” he said, urging the state to “immediately clear Rs 47,000 crore owed to Singareni employees.”
Highlighting issues related to NTPC projects, Kishan Reddy said the central PSU had agreed under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act to set up 4,000 MW capacity projects in Telangana, out of which 1,600 MW were already operational.
However, he said the remaining 2,400 MW units could not proceed as the state government had not signed power purchase agreements despite repeated requests from the NTPC chairman to both the former chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao and the current chief minister A Revanth Reddy.
“Instead, the state government proposes to set up new power projects at Ramagundam, Palvoncha, and Makthal. How justified is it to take new loans and rely on private companies for power generation?” he questioned.
“The people will ultimately bear the cost. The chief minister must tell the public at what rate the government plans to buy electricity from these private players and what land allocations and power purchase agreements are being promised,” Kishan Reddy demanded.
This post was last modified on December 19, 2025 10:52 am