Amaravati,  The Andhra Pradesh government on Friday clarified that the Centre's orders barring distribution companies across 13 states from buying or selling electricity in power exchanges do not apply to the state as it has already paid the dues.

A top official said Andhra Pradesh was included in the list of 13 states due to 'communication gap' and claimed that Andhra Pradesh was taken off the list after the state government sent a communication to the Centre.

Special Chief Secretary (energy) K. Vijayanand said the state has cleared all its dues towards electricity purchased from power exchange. He said the distribution companies (discoms) of the state have paid the dues of Rs 350 crore.

"The restriction will not apply to Andhra Pradesh. The state was included in the list due to some communication gap," he said, adding that the state had now been removed from the list by the Centre.

The Centre had on Thursday barred 27 discoms across 13 states from buying or selling electricity in power exchanges citing their non-payment of dues to generation companies (gencos).

The restriction came into effect from Thursday evening and officials said the delivery of power will be stopped from Friday.

The state-owned Power System Operation Corporation (POSOCO) Limited, which runs the national grid, issued the directive to India's three power exchanges, Indian Energy Exchange (IEX), Power Exchange of India (PXIL) and Hindustan Power Exchange (HPX), asking them to restrict trade of electricity by discoms from 13 states.

According to the list, Andhra Pradesh owes Rs 412.69 crore.

A power exchange is an electronic platform on which power is bought and sold by distribution companies so as to determine the right market price and the best consumer/seller. This ensures market transparency and also helps utilities procure power to meet spikes in demand.