Countering the White Paper released by Electricity Minister R. Nirmalkumar, former Minister for Electricity V. Senthilbalaji accused the TVK-led government of publishing a “convenient report” while omitting the work done during the erstwhile DMK regime.

Addressing journalists in Chennai, Mr. Senthilbalaji said it was the previous DMK government that saved the Electricity Department.

“The demand for electricity increases every year. Though the demand kept rising over the past five years, we provided uninterrupted and uniform supply. During the earlier AIADMK regime, the electricity tariff was hiked thrice — by 37%, 3.5%, and 16%. Even with those tariff hikes, the revenue deficit soared to the range of ₹56,000 crore to ₹58,000 crore. However, over the last five years, the gap between revenue and expenditure was reduced to ₹34,447 crore,” he said.

Furthermore, by lowering the interest rates on loans taken by the electricity board, ₹1,200 crore - ₹1,500 crore was saved per year, and the revenue generated from the sale of fly ash obtained from thermal power stations rose to around ₹160 crore, he said.

When the DMK assumed office in 2021, the total debt of the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board stood at ₹1,59,731 crore, with around ₹15,000 crore being paid towards interest for just a single year, he said. He added that in the last five years, ₹75,000 crore had been paid solely in interest. Power generation costs, electricity procurement costs, and transmission charges had also increased over the past five years, he said.

Asserting that electricity was never procured at inflated prices, he said power generation capacity had been increased by 9,000 MW during the last five years.

“When we came to power, projects such as the Kundah project and the Kolli Hills project were in their initial stages. We completed a significant portion of the work on them,” he said, adding that a staff shortage should not be cited as a reason for the current electricity issues.

Pointing out that Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay recently distributed appointment orders to 401 individuals in the Electricity Department, Mr. Senthilbalaji said all of them were selected during the DMK regime.

The increase in electricity consumption by the industries was not mentioned in the White Paper, he added.