CHENNAI: Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay is likely to chair a high-level review meeting on the financial position of the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB) at the secretariat on Monday, amid mounting debt and rising operational expenditure in the state power sector. The meeting comes days after C T R Nirmal Kumar was allocated the electricity portfolio in the new cabinet.
According to official sources, the TNPDCL is now preparing for the next tariff revision scheduled to take effect from July 1 this year. Senior officials are expected to discuss the proposed tariff hike and its financial implications with the CM during the review meeting.
Sources said that senior officers from the state’s power distribution, generation, transmission and green energy corporations are expected to present detailed reports on the financial health of their respective entities. The presentations are likely to cover liabilities, interest burden, revenue generation, expenditure, subsidy commitments and ongoing infrastructure projects.
Officials said the TNEB liabilities for 2025-26 may have increased by around 6% to 10%, largely due to private power purchases.
As per the 16th annual report (2024-25) of the Tamil Nadu Power Distribution Corporation Limited (TNPDCL), the corporation’s non-current liabilities stood at Rs 1.18 lakh crore, while current liabilities were Rs 80,074 crore. Similarly, the Tamil Nadu Power Generation Corporation Limited (TNPGCL) recorded non-current liabilities of Rs 62,446 crore and current liabilities of Rs 60,780 crore in 2024-25, underlining the growing financial strain on state-run power utilities.
“We are yet to finalise the balance sheet for the previous financial year. During the review meeting, we will explain the debt position of all the four companies — distribution, generation, transmission and green energy — along with the interest burden, ongoing projects and profit and loss accounts,” a senior TNEB official told TNIE.
The official added that senior officers are also expected to brief the CM on operational issues, power demand trends, employee-related matters and the status of major projects being implemented across the state. Sources said Electricity Minister CTR Nirmal Kumar is likely to visit the TNEB headquarters in Chennai ahead of the review meeting.
TNPDCL follows the Multi-Year Tariff Framework approved by the Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission, which provides for annual automatic tariff revision linked to inflation based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) to meet the revenue requirements of the discom.
Under the framework for 2022-2027, power tariff revisions are scheduled every year from July 1. Following this mechanism, the previous DMK government increased electricity tariffs by 3.16% in July 2025, while exempting domestic consumers from the hike in energy charges.
