Industries in Tamil Nadu, especially the High Tension (HT) electricity consumers, have welcomed the announcement by the Tamil Nadu Minister for Energy Resources and Law R. Nirmalkumar on Thursday that electricity tariff will not be increased this year.

The Southern India Mills Association chairman Durai Palanisamy said in a press release that the industry had been pleading with the government to avoid annual increase of the demand charges that was hiked 74% in the last four years (from ₹350 a MW to ₹608 a MW) and the energy charges that saw 18% jump from ₹6.35 a unit to ₹7.50 a unit for HT consumers.

Tamil Nadu was the only State that increased the power tariff upto 6% linking to cost-of-living index. Power cost of textile industry accounts almost 45% of the total cost of production. A delegation from the Association met Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay last month and urged the government to not increase the tariff this year.

Mr. Palanisamy welcomed the release of white paper on the State’s energy sector and the long-term plan to make the Tamil Nadu Power Distribution Corporation financially viable, and complete all the maintenance and backlog projects in a time bound manner.

L. Santhosh, president of the Tamil Nadu Electricity Consumers Association, said the decision to not increase the tariff this year provided the much-needed relief and certainty to industrial, commercial, and domestic consumers, particularly in the prevailing economic environment. “Our Association remains committed to engaging constructively with policymakers and stakeholders to ensure that electricity pricing remains fair, transparent, and reflective of consumer interests,” he said.

The government and the power utilities should continue their efforts towards improving the reliability, efficiency, and quality of power supply while maintaining affordability for consumers, he said.