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New Indian Express
4 days ago
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Banakacherla Link Project goes against Bachawat Tribunal Award: Telangana
HYDERABAD: The Telangana government informed the Ministry of Jal Shakti that the Polavaram-Banakacherla Link Project (PBLP) is against the Bachawat Tribunal Award. In a letter to the secretary of Jal Shakti, Telangana Irrigation principal secretary Rahul Bojja said on Thursday: 'The present proposal of PBLP diverting Godavari Water to other Basins via Krishna Basin without supplementing water to Krishna Basin areas contravenes KWDT-I Award'. The Telangana government sent its comments on the pre-feasibility report (PFR) on Andhra Pradesh's PBLP. The main purpose of this diversion project is to stabilise the existing projects in the Pennar basin spanning the Rayalaseema region, and western parts of Prakasam and Nellore districts that depend on inflows into Srisailam reservoir on the flood based project. Stabilisation to above projects is considered at 50% of its water requirements. New Irrigation potential is about three lakh hectares including taking up Nagarjunasagar Project (NSP) Phase-II, new command between Bollapalle reservoir and Banakacherla Regulator, Orvakallu Lift Irrigation Scheme (for western parts of Kurnool district), Gandikota LIS, Gandikota-CBR Lifts 1 to 6, Somasila high level canal LIS Ph-1, GNSS lifts and Badvel lifts on Telugu Ganga Project (TGP). The share of the new ayacut is 60 tmcft. The stabilisation ayacut of 9.14 lakh hectares and as well as the contemplated ayacut of three lakh hectares do not come under Godavari river basin and it entirely covers the regions of Krishna/Pennar basin which needs to be relooked, the Telangana letter said. As per the Godavari Water Disputes Tribunal Award (GWDTA), there is no clause for allocating the floodwater among the basin States.
The Hindu
5 days ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
Telangana urges MoJS Secretary not to take up appraisal of PBLP
HYDERABAD The Telangana government has requested the Ministry of Jal Shakti (MoJS) not to undertake appraisal of pre-feasibility report of the Polavaram-Banakacherla Link Project (PBLP) since it is in violation of the Godavari Water Disputes Tribunal Award, Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act and Polavaram Project Authority, infringing upon the water rights of Telangana. When the Environmental Clearance granted to the Polavaram project itself has issues of violation and a case is pending in the Supreme Court, which had directed the Centre on September 6, 2022 to address the issues by calling for a meeting of all the stakeholders, it would not be in the interests of natural justice if appraisal of PBLP is taken up, Principal Secretary (Irrigation) of Telangana Rahul Bojja said in a five-page letter addressed to the MoJS Secretary Debashree Mukherjee. He noted that Telangana Minister for Irrigation Uttam Kumar Redddy had requested Union Minister of Jal Shakti to direct the Central Water Commission to reject the PFR under review and also objected to the stand of Additional Secretary, Ministry of Finance, at the June 2 meeting with the AP officials to submit the detailed project report. Mr. Uttam Reddy also wrote to the Minister of Environment and Forests not to take up the appraisal of PBLP. Besides, letters were also addressed by authorities of the Irrigation Department to MoEF and PPA. Listing out the comments of Telangana on the PFR, the Principal Secretary stated that PBLP contemplates stabilisation of 9.14 lakh hectares (nearly 22.59 lakh acres) and new ayacut of another 3 lakh hectares (over 7.41 lakh acres), all in the Krishna and Penna Basins in Rayalaseema and South Coastal Andhra regions. He brought to the MoJS Secretary's notice that there is no clause in the GWDT Award for allocating floodwater among the basin States. Further, he noted, it is explicitly stated that if there is to be any change in the operation schedule as indicated in the inter-State agreement it shall be made only after consultation with the States of erstwhile AP (now Telangana), Chhattisgarh and Odisha, as the PBLP contemplates diversion of 200 tmcft water from Polavaram project and it would require changes in the operation protocol of the project – changes scope of the project too.
Time of India
02-07-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Telangana SPVs pay Rs 1,393 crore dues to REC
Mumbai: Rural Electrification Corp (REC) has clarified that the Telangana-based Kaleshwaram Irrigation Project Corporation ( KIPCL ) and Telangana State Water Resources Infrastructure Development Corporation ( TSWRIDC ) have paid their instalment amount of ₹1,393 crore to the company preventing them from slipping into a non-performing asset (NPA). The loans though are still classified as SMA 2 (special mention account 2) accounts. The two special purpose vehicles (SPV) were floated by the previous BRS government and together borrowed about ₹27,500 crore for taking up various irrigation projects including Kaleshwaram, Palamuru-Ranga Reddy, Sitarama, Devadula, Sriram Sagar flood flow canal and Kanthanapally irrigation projects. The two companies' total dues to REC from these SPVs were at ₹1,393.6 crore at the end of March 2025. In a letter to principal secretary Rahul Bojja, last week REC had said that unless payments are made by June end, the accounts could slip into NPA. In a notice to stock exchanges REC said the payments have been made within the timeline. "The respective utilities have cleared their critical over-dues and as on June 30, 2025, there are no critical dues of KIPCL and TSWRlDC. Further, both loans are secured and have been extended against State Government Guarantee. It is further to clarify that as on date, there are no loan assets which may tum into fresh NPA on account of outstanding dues," REC said. Live Events
New Indian Express
27-06-2025
- Business
- New Indian Express
Kaleshwaram loans at risk of becoming NPAs
HYDERABAD: The Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) Ltd has warned the Irrigation department that loan accounts linked to the Kaleshwaram Irrigation Project Corporation Limited (KIPCL) and Telangana Water Resources Infrastructure Development Corporation (TSWRIDC) risk being classified as Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) if overdue payments are not cleared this month. In a letter to Principal Secretary (Irrigation) Rahul Bojja, the REC said the total dues from the two special purpose vehicles (SPVs) stand at Rs1,393.65 crore, which have been pending since March 31, 2025. Of this, critical overdues are Rs 319.74 crore for TSWRIDC and Rs 229.75 crore for KIPCL. The letter stated that unless payments are made by June 28 and June 29 respectively, the accounts could slip into NPA status. 'Both the borrower accounts have already been reported as SMA-2, as per RBI guidelines, and classified as Stage-2 under the Companies Act, 2013. This delay in serving the dues will have a negative impact on the financials and rating of the utilities and state as a whole,' the REC wrote. The public sector lender urged the Irrigation department to arrange funds to clear the dues immediately. The accounts had already crossed the 60-day overdue threshold, which falls under the Special Mention Account-2 (SMA-2) category used by banks to monitor stressed assets. The REC had sanctioned Rs 30,536.08 crore to KIPCL. In October 2024, the state government had requested that interest on all term loans be consolidated and capped at 9% per annum. Subsequently, in December, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy wrote to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman seeking the restructuring of loans availed from the REC and the Power Finance Corporation (PFC). These loans are now being serviced through the state's Consolidated Fund.
Time of India
27-06-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Telangana flood alert: Jurala gate malfunctions; BRS blames govt negligence
HYDERABAD: One of the 62 crest gates of the Priyadarshini Jurala Project on the Krishna River experienced operational issues on Thursday after a cable snapped, even as the river is receiving heavy inflows from upstream areas. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Gate no. 9 had failed to open after both its rope cables were damaged. The issue arose because the irrigation department had not completed maintenance work before the onset of the monsoon. While officials dispatched a team to carry out repairs, they stated that there is currently no serious threat to the project. Jurala is receiving approximately 98,000 cusecs of water from upstream catchment areas, with an outflow of one lakh cusecs. Irrigation department secretary Rahul Bojja said the repairs would be completed as soon as possible. Superintending engineer of the Jurala Project, Raheemuddin, noted that repair work on the gate had been ongoing for the past few days but was interrupted due to a sudden flood. He confirmed that there was no damage to the gates and assured that the project could withstand inflows of up to 10 lakh cusecs. Meanwhile, BRS working president KT Rama Rao alleged that the snapping of the rope at Gate no. 9 is a clear sign of the ruling Congress govt's negligence. Taking to X, he claimed the Jurala Project is now at risk because chief minister Revanth Reddy is unable to manage it properly. He criticised the govt's apathy in conducting maintenance work at the spillway, despite knowing that floods occur annually. He urged the CM and his ministers to finally wake up, as floodwaters at Jurala continue to rise.
