CHENNAI: Electricity minister V Senthil Balaji on Wednesday ruled out the possibility of reducing the new power tariff proposed by the State government to the Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission.
The State-owned power utility has been paying Rs 16,000 crore interest every year on its debt and has a loan outstanding of Rs 1.53 lakh crore, the minister said, adding the new tariff has been kept as low as possible. After conducting a review meeting at the Tangedco head office, he told reporters, “Chief Minister MK Stalin had already announced that the first solar park will come up in Tiruvarur district.
As of now, we have identified 3,273 acres of land to set up solar parks in Tiruvarur, Karur, Nagapattinam, Salem, Chengalpattu and Kancheepuram districts. Tender process will commence shortly.” The CM would inaugurate a scheme to provide 50,000 free agriculture connections in September, he said.
In response to a question regarding Annamalai’s challenge to share Centre’s order that mandated the State to hike power tariff, Balaji said if Annamalai has guts, he could sue him or the State. Annamalai should also tell people about prevailing power tariff in BJP-ruled states, he said.