Vijayawada: Stating that the state government will not purchase power at a high cost, chief minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy on Sunday directed officials to take steps to plug loopholes and revamp the power sector to make it more transparent and accountable, said energy, forest and environment minister Balineni Srinivasa Reddy. He said the CM has also directed the energy department to make the nine-hour free power supply to farm sector compulsory during day time as a permanent phenomenon. He said the government is according top priority to the agriculture sector and farmers’ welfare.During a brief interaction with officials of energy department over phone, Srinivasa Reddy said Jaganmohan Reddy stressed the need to go for cost effective power. “Say no to costly power. The need to cut costs in power sector is urgent and acute. I will not allow any extravagant spending of public money. Low cost power should be given the highest priority. Work out effective strategies and formulate a strong mechanism to achieve this target,” he quoted the chief minister as saying.
The government would bear Rs 2,780 crore (Rs 1,700 crore for additional infrastructure and Rs 1,080 crore for the period June 2019-March 2020) to supply power to the farm sector.