AP Govt Will Present PPA Facts To Centre: Ajay Kallam   

Amaravati (AP): The Andhra Pradesh government has initiated an exercise to review power purchase agreements in the interest of the public and the State, a top official said Monday and added it is not for antagonising the Centre and all facts will be brought to its notice.

The State will go ahead with the exercise, Ajay Kallam, Principal Advisor to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, asserted.

He was responding to a query on the Centre's reported objection to the state government's decision to review PPAs during the Telugu Desam Party's rule on the ground of corruption.

"Absolutely there is no issue. They must have responded based on whatever has come to their notice. They may not be knowing facts.

We will bring the facts to their notice.Now we will go on doing the exercise," Kallam told reporters here.

Union Minister of State (Independent) for Power and Renewable Energy R K Singh had reportedly objected to the AP government's move in a two-page letter last week.

Emphasising India's environmental and power requirements, the letter reportedly warned the State saying that the exercise would halt flow of foreign investments into the sector.

Kallam claimed that the Centre may not be aware of "certain facts."

"In governance, it is natural to refer certain pleas to concerned governments or agencies.

That does not mean they are finding fault with us or we are antagonising them. They are doing their job, we are doing ours. We are doing it for the sake of public and in the interest of the state," he added.

Highlights from the Media conference

Review of power agreements
* Huge burden posed on Government and people of AP through Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) over last five years
* Should the govt remain a silent spectator to the burden of thousands of crores imposed annually on the state treasury?
* What were the gains from the agreements?
* The state is put to a loss is Rs 7 crores a day and Rs 2500 crores annually
* If the companies in question have not committed any irregularities, why worry?
*If the AP ERC limit for conventional power was set at 5%, why was it hiked arbitrarily to 26%?
* The propaganda that review of PPAs would impact investments is baseless
*Investors are ready to set up plants at a lower price without PPAs
*AP government will apprise the Centre of facts
* The Centre in its Economic Survey placed before the parliament the fact that the rates of Solar and Wind power had come down
* The Centre had in fact reduced the prices of some companies even after the bidding process got over
* The power engineers federation in Delhi hailed the decisions of the Andhra Pradesh government with respect to the power sector
* The federation had in fact called for a review of PPAs across the country
* The aim of the government is to root out corruption and fast track development in the power sector in the interest of the state

---Chief advisor to the Andhra Pradesh government Ajay Kallam (Agency)

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