Hyderabad: Telangana chief minister A Revanth Reddy has addressed multiple letters to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, seeking the funds that were meant for Telangana, but are yet to be paid.
In one of the letters, the chief minister, who was in New Delhi earlier, urged the Centre to ensure that the existing IPS cadre strength was increased based on the territorial requirement rather than just the population ratio.
In the letter addressed to Sitharaman, Revanth Reddy requested the former to facilitate a comprehensive settlement of all power-related disputes between AP and Telangana post-bifurcation of the undivided AP by playing the mediator.
“The key issues include unilateral cancellation of Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) by APDISCOMs, cessation of power supply by APGENCO, and conflicting legal claims. The total dues amount to Rs 6,756.92 crore as directed by the Centre, but Telangana has counter-claims totaling Rs 24,132 crore,” he wrote.
Pointing out that Telangana has incurred Rs 703.43 crore in expenses for constitutional bodies and common institutions between the two states post-bifurcation, the chief minister informed the Union finance minister that Andhra Pradesh owed Telangana Rs 408.49 crore, which has not been reimbursed despite multiple communications and agreements.
He also requested Sitharaman to intervene and instruct Andhra Pradesh to expedite the reimbursement of Rs 208.24 crore including applicable interest to Telangana, for the Net Credit Carried Forward (NCCF) by the Commercial Taxes department at the time of state’s bifurcation.
Informing that Andhra Pradesh had allocated an excess liability of Rs 1,052.70 crore to the Telangana Power Finance Corporation post-bifurcation that he claimed was contrary to the AP Reorganisation Act, Revanth Reddy stated that Telangana has already paid Rs 1,270 crore (principal and interest) under protest, representing the excess liability.
He urged the finance minister to ensure that AP Power Finance Corporation reimbursed Telangana for the excess liability paid under protest.
He apprised the Centre about loans raised through special purpose vehicles (SPV) through off-budget borrowings (OBB) totaling Rs 31,795 crore from institutions like the Power Finance Corporation (PFC) and the Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) which carried high-interest rates (10.75% to 11.25%); the repayment of which has become a significant financial strain on the State.
He sought the finance minister’s guidance and support in instructing the financial institutions to restructure these loans, aligning the repayment terms with Telangana’s financial capacity.
He also urged the Centre to direct Andhra Pradesh to expedite the transfer of funds amounting to Rs 455.76 crore in the Andhra Pradesh Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board (APBOCWWB), and Rs 9.15 crore in the AP Labour Welfare Fund, which he claimed belonged to Telangana, but have not been transferred by Andhra Pradesh yet.
Despite fulfilling all the requisite conditions and submitting utilisation certificates, Revanth stated that the Telangana has not received Rs 1,800 crore dues for the financial years 2019-20, 2021-22, 2022-23, and 2023-24. He stated that the money was assured to Telangana as per the AP Reorganisation Act for the development of nine districts designated as backward districts.
Due to an error that occurred in allocating the central share of Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) in 2014-15, he claimed that Rs 495.20 crore amount meant for Telangana was erroneously released to Andhra Pradesh.
“This mistake has not been corrected, despite Telangana repeatedly representing the matter to the Accountant General and the Government of Andhra Pradesh. Revanth Reddy requested the finance minister to adjust the allocation and ensure that amount by correcting the population ratio-based error,” he added.
