Assuring employees of concrete action, the Minister said the long-pending issue of Assistant Engineer shortages would be addressed soon 

Reiterating the coalition government’s firm opposition to privatisation of the power sector, Energy Minister Gottipati Ravi Kumar on Monday said the return of the coalition to power was possible only because of the wholehearted support of employees and engineers. He called upon the workforce to continue cooperating to restore the past glory of State power utilities and assured that employee issues would be resolved under the present dispensation.

The Minister was the chief guest at the APSEB Engineers’ Association 2026 diary and calendar release held at a local convention hall. Addressing the gathering, he said the coalition government stood by power sector employees from linemen to engineers, and it was their collective effort that enabled the government to deliver relief to consumers through the historic ‘true-down’ in electricity charges. He noted that Andhra Pradesh, under the leadership of Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, became the first State in the country to implement a true-down in power tariffs.

Gottipati Ravi Kumar said the record generation of 6,000 MW by APGENCO was a matter of pride for the State and proof of the sector’s operational strength. He alleged that the previous government attempted to hand over the power sector to large corporations in the name of privatisation and burdened consumers by increasing tariffs nine times through unnecessary power purchases. In contrast, he said, the coalition government was committed to transparency, fiscal discipline and consumer-friendly reforms.

Assuring employees of concrete action, the Minister said the long-pending issue of Assistant Engineer shortages would be addressed soon and that discussions were already held with the Chief Minister on PRC-related matters and staffing gaps. 

Highlighting reforms initiated earlier, he said Andhra Pradesh had moved from prolonged power outages of seven to eight hours to round-the-clock uninterrupted supply due to systemic reforms introduced by Chandrababu Naidu. He added that consultations would be held with locals to take a positive decision on a proposed new power plant in Srikakulam.

The event was attended by APCPDCL Director TVSN Murthy, Operations Director Murali Krishna Yadav, All India Power Engineers Federation Chairman Shailendra Dubey, and other senior officials and engineers.