Power Minister Gottipati Ravi Kumar along with Nellore MP Vemireddy Prabhakar Reddy, his wife and Kovur MLA Vemireddy Prasanthi Reddy inaugurated the 33/11 kV substation at Panchedu in SPSR Nellore district on Tuesday. | Photo credit: BY ARRANGEMENT
New power substations are being constructed in Andhra Pradesh to ensure quality and uninterrupted power supply to farmers and the general public, said Power Minister Gottipati Ravi Kumar. Along with Nellore MP Vemireddy Prabhakar Reddy and his wife and Kovur MLA Vemireddy Prasanthi Reddy, the minister inaugurated several development works in SPSR Nellore district on Tuesday.
He commissioned a 33/11 kV substation constructed at a cost of ₹ 3.30 crore at Panchedu village in Buchireddypalem Mandal. He also inaugurated another 33/11 kV substation constructed at a cost of ₹ 3.61 crore at Kudithipalem village in Indukurupeta mandal. He announced a new substation near Nellore Kisan SEZ and Divisional Engineer (DE) office in Kovur constituency.
Besides, 10 to 12 more substations should be set up in the district to remove low voltage problems, the minister said, adding that the government is taking steps to ensure that not even a rupee of additional power burden falls on the public. He alleged that the previous government had increased electricity tariffs nine times without effectively utilizing the available resources.
He said that three-phase power is being provided in each village under the Enhanced Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS) and assured that agricultural power connection would be extended to all eligible farmers at the earliest. He accused a section of the media of spreading false narratives about Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP) power charges to mislead the public.
Regarding the issue, Mr. Ravi Kumar said that the NDA-led government is fully committed to protect the interests of VSP and its workers. He explained that energy charges of Rs. 600 crores was left pending to protect the welfare of its employees, which impacted the ratings of APEPDCL (Eastern Power Distribution Company of Andhra Pradesh Limited).
He announced that a discussion would soon take place with the Chief Minister to fill up nearly 500 Assistant Engineer (AE) posts in the Power Department, adding that the coalition government was moving ahead to provide employment to 20,000 youth in the state.
Published – 27 Jan 2026 20:47 IST
