Power cut a routine in DMK govts, charges Udhayakumar

MADURAI: Whenever the DMK comes to power, the people of Tamil Nadu are left to bear the brunt of electricity tariff hikes and suffer power cuts. Every year, since 2022, the government hikes power tariff like how the budget is released, RB Udhayakumar, Deputy Leader of the Opposition said in Madurai on Monday.

After the victory of the DMK-led combine in the LS polls and the by-poll from Vikravandi this year, the State government hiked the electricity tariff by five per cent for the third consecutive year.

Talking to reporters, Udhayakumar said instead of taking steps to increase power generation, the government procured electricity from the private sector, thereby incurring a cost of Rs 65,000 crore. Only because of this, the people were burdened with an increase in power tariffs.

With this hike in effect, the government could generate additional revenue of Rs 35,000 crore annually, but still the Tangedco is in a sorry state of affairs.

With over two lakh MSME units in place across the state, almost 15 per cent of these units are on the verge of closure as the small-scale industrialists could not afford the hike and the future of the rest of the units remains questionable.

Further, Udhayakumar criticised the ruling DMK saying it failed to meet its manifesto pledge that promised no hike in electricity tariff. When the AIADMK was in power in its previous term, the then government did not hike electricity tariff for eight years. But when the AIADMK-led government was about to hike the tariff, MK Stalin, who was the opposition leader then, protested with his party cadre.

During the AIADMK regime, hundred units of power were offered free of cost to consumers, and 200 units were consumed at a cost of Rs170, but now after the hike, it costs Rs 235. While the consumption cost of 300 units was Rs 530 during the previous regime, it costs Rs 705 under this DMK regime.

After consuming 400 units, consumers paid Rs.830 then, but now it has been increased to Rs 1,175. When 500 units of electricity were consumed, the consumers were charged only Rs 1,130 then, but now the same amount of electricity costs Rs 1,805, he said.