No going back on solving the issues related to the farming community, said Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy.

Replying to the 2-day long debate on the acute power crisis in the state, the Chief Minister admitted that there was wide gap between the demand and supply of electricity in the State. Majority of power generation was done in the State with gas and on the other hand there was unexpected fall in the hydel power generation. The government was forced to purchase power from outside at higher price.

Kiran said Fuel Surcharge Adjustment (FSA) was not a new one as it was in vogue since 2003-04 during YS Rajasekhar Reddy's regime. The current power generation through hydel projects was just 2,500 MW and the power generation came down because shortage of gas and drought conditions. However, 4,375 MW of power generation was expected this year and free power was being given to farmers by purchasing at Rs 12 per unit. The Chief Minister said electricity generation was in a better position a few years ago in southern India, but owing to improper grid connectivity power transmission became a problem.

Kiran Kumar Reddy said 58 per cent of power subsidy was given to Telangana region and out of Rs 22,220 crore power subsidies, about Rs 12,975 crore was sanctioned to farmers in Telangana. More than 18 lakh agriculture pump sets were under operation in Telangana, 7 lakhs in Rayalaseema and 6.40 lakhs in coastal Andhra. As there was no proper irrigation facility, Telangana region had been allocated more electricity, Kiran said and took a dig at some leaders for making baseless allegations on coal purchases.

Though coal was produced in the State, the allocation process was under the control of the Centre. Saying that there was acute shortage of coal, the government was buying coal as per the permissions given by the Central government, the Chief Minister said.

-Sakshipost