CHENNAI: I: The Energy department has ordered the installation of 50,000 new subsidised agricultural service connections for 2026-27 and directed the chairman and managing director of Tamil Nadu Power Distribution Corporation Ltd (TNPDCL) to verify existing agricultural electricity connections for possible misclassification and weed out claims where power is not being used for the intended purpose.

The directive, issued through a government order on Friday, cited high power procurement costs and the corporation's critical financial position as reasons for the verification exercise.

Of the 50,000 connections sanctioned, 20,000 will be provided free under the normal category, including 3,215 connections earmarked on a one-time priority basis for small and marginal farmers belonging to BC, MBC and DNC communities. The remaining allocations comprise 3,372 connections under the Revised Self-Financing Scheme, 1,346 under various government schemes and 25,282 under the Tatkal self-financing scheme.

The TNPDCL had already provided 7,313 agricultural connections between April 1 and September 21, anticipating government approval. The government has now ratified these connections and ordered that they be counted against the annual target.

The recurring expenditure for the 50,000 connections is estimated at Rs 127.56 crore, to be provided by the state government as a subsidy. The TNPDCL will bear the non-recurring expenditure of Rs 750 crore towards connection works, estimated at an average of Rs 1.5 lakh per connection.

The government has also ordered that the unachieved balance of the 2025-26 target be subsumed under the current year's allocation.