 "'Power generation initiatives will soon make TN power surplus'")
Chief Minister Jayalalithaa said this in reply to a special call attention by CPI-M and CPI on power cuts affecting MSMEs in some parts of the state and added that her government had turned around the financial status of state-run Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO).
Replying to the call attention, Jayalalithaa launched yet another scathing attack on the previous DMK government, insisting it had left state-run TANGEDCO in a near bankrupt state due to various reasons, including mismanagement.
More From This Section
She said when her government took over in 2011, TANGEDCO had over Rs 40000 crore of debt and RBI had given instructions (to banks and lending institutions) not to give loans to it. She took it upon herself as a challenge and provided various measures, which she said has resulted in the debts being almost cleared.
The Chief Minister said work at thermal power generation projects, including those at Mettur and North Chennai had proceeded slowly during the DMK regime and were put on fast track after she took over.
As a result, Tamil Nadu was receiving 500 MW from Mettur out of the total 600 MW with the first unit of the north chennai plant producing 300 MW. It would increase by 600 MW by December this year, she said in a detailed reply.
Further, as part of long-term purchase agreement, the state would get over 3000 MW for the next 15 years, she said.
TANGEDCO had achieved its peak production of 12,118 MW on Oct 1 2013 even as the power cut for HT consumers had been reduced from 40 per cent to 20 per cent, she said.
With existing power generation efforts all set to yield more fruits in the coming months, Tamil Nadu would soon be made power-surplus. The state had achieved 99 per cent of this target, she said while announcing that works on various new proposed initiatives had already begun.
She also denied there was power cuts for MSMEs even as there were no power cuts in cities like Chennai.