Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh power distribution corporations have informed the high court that they cannot pay monthly payments to power plants, including unpaid dues to renewable energy providers, because of a difficult financial situation.
On March 15, the Andhra Pradesh High Court granted appeals brought by several solar and wind power producing businesses with power purchase agreements (PPAs) with Andhra Pradesh power distribution companies, ordering the latter to pay all due arrears as promised in the PPAs.
The discoms were ordered by the High Court to clear the pending arrears in six weeks. But the government, which had not made any payments for six weeks, told the high court that they could not make the payments now that they had no money. The government has to pay nearly Rs 20,000 crore as per PPAs.
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The government has told the high court that the power companies are in a large-scale debt crisis. The Center also expressed dissatisfaction that the review of PPAs had eroded investors' confidence internationally in Andhra Pradesh.
The issue has also been discussed at investment conferences in places like Davos. The Union Power Minister had earlier warned that it would pay the state funds directly from the RBI if the government failed to pay power companies as per the PPAs.
(With inputs from ABP Desam — It is a Telugu platform of ABP News. For more news, commentary and latest happenings from two Telugu states, follow https://telugu.abplive.com//amp)