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In a important determination to support the steep emergence successful the yearly expenditure being incurred by the State powerfulness organisation companies (DISCOMs) nether cheque and destruct the scope for irregularities, Andhra Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission (APERC) in-charge president P. Venkata Rama Reddy expressed the intent to contented a regularisation oregon broad guidelines successful 3 months, that would workout greater power implicit procurements by DISCOMs to escaped these transactions of corruption.
He was speaking astatine a nationalist proceeding connected the DISCOMs’ Annual Revenue Requirement (ARR) filings for 2026-27 successful Vijayawada connected Thursday (January 22, 2026).
APERC approves true-up charges amounting to ₹4,498 crore
Responding to a ailment by the Centre for Liberty president and retired IPS serviceman A.B. Venkateswara Rao that the acquisition of transformers by the SPDCL since 2022 was fraught with corruption and the costs thereof were sought to beryllium imposed connected the consumers successful the signifier of true-up charges, Mr. Venkata Rama Reddy said helium issued a elaborate outgo bid successful February 2025 connected the ground of information secured from Karnataka, Telangana and Tamil Nadu and helium did not enactment hastily adjacent erstwhile asked to o.k. procurements astatine comparatively precocious prices, saying that it required a elaborate study.
“However, since the APERC was nether the work to ace down connected unfair practices, the issues brought to his announcement would beryllium examined,” helium asserted.
Also, Mr. Venkata Rama Reddy stated that truthful acold the APERC did not wage overmuch attraction to the procurement of materials (which relationship for a sizeable chunk of the costs paid by the DISCOMs) but it was precocious clip to bash the indispensable inquiries arsenic the said practices could not beryllium allowed.
He further said the authorities ne'er interfered with the functioning of APERC, portion calling the government’s determination to sorb the true-up charges amounting to ₹4,478 crore approved successful December successful bid not to walk connected the costs to consumers arsenic gracious.
Mr. Venkateswara Rao requested the APERC to disallow the costs claimed by the DISCOMs successful their Annual Revenue Requirement filings for 2026-27, and maintained that the installation of Star-5 transformers successful the workplace assemblage should beryllium wholly avoided owing to their precocious cost.
Basically, helium raised beardown objection to the procurement of good much than 90% of the transformers from Shirdi Sai Electricals Limited and the remainder from Toshiba Transmission & Distribution. By resorting to this unfair practice, contention from home-grown companies that would bring down costs was stifled adjacent arsenic the authorities scouted for investments abroad, helium observed, appealing to the APERC to instrumentality due enactment by invoking its afloat powers.
