Harish Rao writes to TGERC opposing Rythu Discom

BRS leader T Harish Rao urged the Telangana Electricity Regulatory Commission to reject the proposed Rythu Discom licence, alleging financial risks, lack of public consultation and operational concerns. He said the move could burden farmers, employees and electricity consumers across the State

Hyderabad: BRS Deputy Floor Leader T Harish Rao has written to the Telangana Electricity Regulatory Commission (TGERC), strongly objecting to the State government’s application seeking a distribution licence for the proposed “Rythu Discom”, and urged the Commission to reject the application.

In his letter, Harish Rao alleged that after coming to power, the Congress government had pushed the power sector into uncertainty through unplanned decisions. He expressed concern that the proposal to create a third discom in the name of “Rythu Discom” had created fear and confusion among farmers and electricity consumers.

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In his objections submitted to the Commission, Harish Rao raised several concerns over the proposed third discom.

He questioned why the government had announced that the Rythu Discom would begin operations from June 2 even before completion of the public hearing process, alleging that pressure was being exerted on the Commission to grant the licence.

He pointed out that neither farmers, farmers’ organisations, public representatives nor power utilities had demanded a separate farmers’ discom. There was also no cabinet sub-committee recommendation supporting such a move, he said.

Harish Rao said the government itself had admitted in GO No. 44 that the existing discoms were facing financial stress due to the gap between billing rates and cost of service. This, he said, proved that the proposal was financially driven rather than aimed at farmers’ welfare.

The former Minister criticised the government for failing to hold broad public consultations on such a major reform and urged the Commission to conduct public hearings across Telangana, as the decision would impact all sections of electricity consumers in the State.

Harish Rao also expressed serious concerns over manpower shortages in the proposed discom. He said nearly 29 lakh agricultural consumers spread across 32 districts and 584 mandals would be managed by only 2,000 employees, including barely 1,000 field staff such as linemen and artisans. “How can such limited staff maintain 5.5 lakh transformers and 2.6 lakh kilometres of LT lines?” he asked.

He further pointed out that substations and 33 KV and 11 KV lines would remain under existing discoms, which could create coordination issues and operational risks for the proposed Rythu Discom.

“Why are Mission Bhagiratha, lift irrigation schemes and municipal water supply systems being included under the proposed farmers’ discom if it is meant exclusively for agriculture consumers?” he questioned.

He alleged that nearly Rs 35,000 crore worth of outstanding dues, including liabilities from lift irrigation projects, HMWSSB and Mission Bhagiratha, were being shifted to the proposed discom without clarity on revenue generation.

He also objected to the lack of clarity regarding power purchase agreements and financial planning for the new discom, criticising the government for stating that business plans and financial details would be submitted later.

Harish Rao warned that removing industrial and commercial consumers from the cross-subsidy structure would place a huge financial burden on the government, as the proposed Rythu Discom would largely serve non-revenue-generating agricultural consumers.

The former Minister further alleged that employees were being lured into joining the new discom through promises of special promotions while employees in the existing discoms were being denied regular promotions. On behalf of the BRS party, Harish Rao urged the TGERC to reject the application for the third discom distribution licence in the interest of farmers, employees and electricity consumers across the State.