AIADMK failed to commission power projects initiated by DMK, says Min

CHENNAI: Electricity Minister V Senthilbalaji on Wednesday accused the previous AIADMK government of failing to commission power projects initiated by the DMK government in 2006-11.

Intervening in the debate on the demands for grants for the Energy Department, he said that the 800 MW North Chennai Stage III, 1,320 MW Ennore SEZ, 1,320 MW Udangudi and 660 MW ETPS Expansion projects, which were initiated by former chief minister M Karunanidhi should have been commissioned by 2018-19, but they failed to do so.

The Electricity Minister, who was replying to the charges made by AIADMK MLA and former minister Natham R Viswanathan asked how many projects were initiated and completed during the AIADMK rule.

To AIADMK MLA Sekar’s assertion that the power demand has not increased much, he said that the energy usage by all the consumption has increased to 1.17 lakh million units in 2022-23 from 1.11 lakh MUs in 2018-19. He noted that on Tuesday, an all-time-high energy consumption of 397 million units was recorded.

He said that due to various initiatives taken by the government, Tangedco’s loss is expected to come down to Rs 7,825 crore in 2022-23 from Rs 11,954 crore in 2021-22.

Replying to the charges made by AIADMK MLA and former minister Natham R Viswanathan, he asked how many projects were initiated and completed during the AIADMK rule