Jagadish Reddy counters CM Revanth’s charges

Before executing the works, a technical committee was constituted and only after the feasibility report was submitted, the project went ahead.

Hyderabad: Stressing that BRS government had completed the Kakatiya Thermal Power Project project in 48 months, former Energy Minister G Jagadish Reddy said the Bhadradri project was taken up only after BHEL wrote to the government about completion of the project in a short time.

Before executing the works, a technical committee was constituted and only after the feasibility report was submitted, the project went ahead. The committee report was available with the government for reference, he said, adding that this was followed with a letter to union Ministry of Power seeking permission. According to the instructions, if any projects could be completed before March 31, 2017, they could be taken up, he replied.

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The then Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao also wrote to the Ministry of Power seeking clarification whether the State government could go ahead with the project. The Ministry of Power had approved the same, he said, displaying copies of the letter in the House.

Not just in Telangana, there were 39 projects being taken up with sub-critical technology in the country, he said displaying the list of the projects. The Rayalaseema Thermal Power Plant was initiated by former Chief Minister late YS Rajashekhar Reddy in 2011, but was not completed till the Bhadradri project was completed. It got commissioned very recently, he said adding that the State government could conduct a probe in this regard as well.

The BRS government wanted to complete the Yadadri and Bhadradri projects well within the targeted time. Unfortunately, a Visakhapatnam native filed a case and halted the process. The same issue was discussed in the House in the past by Bhatti Vikramarka Mallu and D Sridhar Babu. There were records in the House and they could be verified, he said.

“In addition to the debates, there are Comptroller Auditor General (CAG) reports tabled in the last 10 years for reference,” Jagadish Reddy said, pointing out that the Chief Minister was not in the House during that time.