Tamilnadu Electricity Board Under Scanner

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CHENNAI, INDIA (GaeaTimes.com)- The Tamil Nadu Electricity Board has come under the fire after it proposed to increase the electricity tariff in the state. The first public hearing was tense and the majority of the participants demanded that TNEB should focus on distribution losses and transmission first. The proposal of hike drew flak from all. The TNEB is making a loss of around Rs 6,000-crore per year. In the last one decade it has not revised its tariff. The government of the state tried to implement tariff changes earlier but the efforts met with failure. The participants in the hearing also demanded that the elite consumers should not be allowed to enjoy subsidy in tariffs.

The reason for Tamil Nadu Electricity Board incurring such huge losses is its reliance on the private players. The government did not try much for increasing the energy generation capacity of the entity. The TNEB buys power from 7 private players now which becomes a costly proposition. The representatives of consumer protection forum said that a lot of money can be saved by detecting and thwarting power thefts that have become rampant in the state. It may help the board to cut down on the amount of loss to a great extent. The representatives of Tamil Nadu Small and Tiny Industries’ Association demanded that the government would do well to diminish the tariff for small industries and offer them the facilities offered to domestic consumers.

J Jayalalithaa, the AIADMK general secretary came down heavily on Tamil Nadu Electricity Board for taking steps that are adding to its yearly losses. She criticized the import of low calorific coal by TNEB.