Andhra Pradesh Energy Minister Gottipati Ravi Kumar on Friday said that the NDA coalition government has not increased electricity tariffs during its two years in office and assured that consumers would not face any power tariff hike over the next three years as well.
In a statement marking two years of the NDA rule, the minister alleged that the previous YSRCP government between 2019 and 2024 had “weakened” the power sector financially and pushed it into a crisis during its five-year tenure.
“We restored the damaged power sector within two years and ensured that no additional burden was imposed on consumers,” Kumar said in an official release.
The minister claimed that the NDA government had converted the previous regime’s True-Up policy into a True-Down policy and implemented a 13-paise True-Down without imposing any additional burden on electricity consumers.
True-Up and True-Down are regulatory mechanisms used to adjust differences between estimated costs and actual costs incurred by power distribution companies (DISCOMs).
He alleged that the previous government had increased electricity tariffs nine times, while the present administration was strengthening the sector financially while protecting consumer interests.
According to Kumar, the NDA government has significantly reduced power purchases from other states by increasing generation capacity within Andhra Pradesh.
Keeping future energy requirements in view, he said the government is moving ahead with a target of generating 160 gigawatts of power from the renewable energy sector.
The minister said the state government is working towards providing six lakh free solar connections to Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe families under the PM Surya Ghar scheme launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The PM Surya Ghar, Muft Bijli Yojana promotes rooftop solar installations, providing subsidies and enabling households to reduce electricity bills through renewable energy generation.
He further said power infrastructure in rural areas is being strengthened through the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS), with large-scale construction of substations and transmission lines underway.
These measures would help reduce transmission losses and significantly improve the quality and reliability of power supply, besides addressing power interruptions and low-voltage problems, Kumar added.
