Two years into Congress rule, Telangana’s power sector faces outages, rising demand and stalled capacity
Two years after taking office, the Congress government faces mounting criticism as Telangana’s power sector grapples with rising demand, renewed outages and stalled capacity addition. With allegations over new thermal approvals and loan plans, concerns grow over the State’s slipping energy stability
Hyderabad: Two years into the Congress rule, Telangana’s once-admired power sector is slipping back into the chaos of the pre-2014 era, with outages, soaring demand, stagnant capacity addition and a string of controversial decisions pushing the State into an avoidable crisis.
After assuming office in December 2023, the Congress government inherited a stable, surplus system built over nine and a half years by the BRS regime. But today, power cuts have resurfaced with a vengeance, stretching for hours. Urban homes and commercial establishments have dusted off inverters and generators, while rural pockets report hours-long outages and damage to thousands of agricultural pump sets due to unpredictable voltage fluctuations, especially during summer.
Also Read
The Congress government’s response has oscillated between denial and blame-shifting. While Ministers insist that there are no power cuts, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy himself has alleged sabotage by power utility officials and contradicted his own administration. Punitive notices to field staff have followed, but the core crisis remains unaddressed.
The numbers tell a sharper story. Telangana’s peak demand has surged from 6,755 MW in 2014-15 to 13,168 MW (2019–20) and then to 17,162 MW (2024–25), with a 9.85 per cent rise in the last year alone. Yet, except for two of five units (800 MW each) commissioned from the Yadadri Thermal Power Plant initiated by the BRS government, the Congress has neither launched new plants nor secured long-term power procurement.
Instead, the Cabinet recently approved a third transmission company, widely seen as an attempt to raise fresh loans which could impose additional debt burden on DISCOMS, under the guise of infrastructure development.
Simultaneously, it cleared three new thermal plants totalling 2,400 MW recently, triggering allegations of a massive Rs 50,000 crore scam. Former Minister and BRS MLA T Harish Rao questioned why the government was favouring TSGenco’s costlier proposal of Rs 14 crore per MW when NTPC quoted Rs 12.23 crore. “Who pockets the extra Rs 2 crore per MW?” he asked.
On the other hand, the Congress government had set up a judicial commission to probe alleged irregularities in the Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) signed during the BRS regime. The move, termed by the BRS as nothing but a political witchhunt, saw the Justice Madan B Lokur Commission, submitting a report in October last year. However, the Congress government has kept silent ever since.
Even as the Congress pursues its political agenda, fact remains that due to initiatives of former Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao, Telangana moved from a power deficit to surplus State, providing 24×7 power supply across sectors. The State’s installed capacity increased from 7,778 MW in 2014 to 18,453 MW in 2023, which increased to 19,475 MW in 2024 following commissioning of two units of Yadadri thermal power plant.
The previous BRS government invested nearly Rs 38,000 crore in transmission and distribution networks, while the current Congress regime made no significant progress and instead, is planning to use DISCOMs to raise more loans.
The Congress government now promises a new Electricity Policy focused on renewable energy. But on the ground, Telangana is slipping back to unpredictability, outages and uncertainty. Unless rapid measures are not taken to plan, procure and build power capacity, Telangana’s hard-earned power stability would be rapidly eroding.
