CHENNAI: The State government in its budget promised to absorb 100 per cent of the Tangedco’s losses and allocated Rs 13,108 crore to the PSU. Be that as it may, experts in the field opined that it’s high time the company initiated a few steps towards transforming itself into a profit-making enterprise.
Retired superintending engineer of Tangedco C Santhanam told TNIE that although this announcement offered some relief, it was crucial to start building infrastructure. “The PSU should install more poles and transformers to supply power to rural areas without interruption,” he said. Even if the PSU utilised all of this amount (Rs 13,108 crore) properly, it won’t reduce the company’s burden of pending payments and dues, he said, adding that it was crucial to raise power tariff to generate sustainable revenue.
On the other hand, S Nagalsamy, a retired member of Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission (TNERC), opposed a tariff hike. He had rejected a hike proposal in 2014 when he was a member of TNERC. He told TNIE that there was no need to raise power tariff.
Instead, Tangedco has to streamline its private power purchase. In the past, when neighbouring states were paying less than Rs 4 a unit, the PSU procured power at a price of Rs 5 or higher. As a result, Tangedco suffered huge losses. Though the power sector’s total debt was Rs 1.50 lakh crore, the State government made no mention of it in the budget, he said.
TNEB employee’s federation general secretary A Sekkizhar told TNIE that the wage revision of the staff expired on November 31, 2019. Though a new one should have been implemented on December 1, 2019, thousands of employees have been waiting for it for the last three years.
The State government should have allocated funds for wage settlement, he said. Sekkizhar added that the State government should also have allocated some funds towards the many solar power projects Tangedco has planned with Union government assistance.