KCR's power deals resulted in a ₹6,000 crore loss for Telangana, sources say

K Chandrashekar Rao has raised concerns about the impartiality of the commission's head investigating the power purchase agreements.

The Telangana government estimates that irregularities in power purchase agreements under the previous Bharat Rashtra Samithi administration may have caused the state exchequer a loss of up to ₹6,000 crores. Following a notice from a Commission of Inquiry set up to investigate these suspected irregularities, former chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao asserted that the Electricity Regulatory Commission's decisions could not be investigated. He also questioned the impartiality of the commission's head, former Justice Narasimha Reddy.

On Tuesday, documents were released to the media indicating that the power purchase agreements (PPAs) with Chhattisgarh had not been ratified by the Telangana State Electricity Regulatory Commission (TSERC).

KCR, as he is popularly known, has been openly critical of the Justice Narasimha Reddy Commission of Inquiry, even calling for the former Patna High Court chief justice to recuse himself. He has labeled the commission unlawful, arguing it lacks the authority to investigate PPAs and power plant construction issues once approved by the TSERC.

Officials have clarified that although the Chhattisgarh agreement was operational by the end of 2017, the power supply was limited to 1,000 MW, forcing Telangana to purchase additional power from the market. This resulted in an extra cost of ₹2,083 crore between 2017 and 2022. "The previous government claimed to pay ₹3.9 per unit for power, but the actual cost was ₹5.64 per unit when including other expenses. From 2017 to 2022, Telangana bought 17,996 million units for ₹7,719 crore. They claimed to pay Chhattisgarh ₹1,081 crore for power, but the transmission charge alone was ₹1,362 crore. Considering all costs, the per unit expenditure was ₹5.64, which is ₹3,110 crore more than the agreed price of ₹3.9 per unit," a senior official explained.

KCR, a key figure in the movement for a separate Telangana, became its first chief minister in 2014 and held the position until last year when his Bharat Rashtra Samithi suffered a significant defeat to the Congress, which won 64 out of 119 Assembly seats, later increasing to 65 after a bypoll.