CHENNAI: Former Electricity Minister V Senthilbalaji on Tuesday accused the TVK government of mishandling power procurement and failing to address power cuts, alleging that it was moving towards privatisation of the electricity sector.

Speaking to reporters at Anna Arivalayam, Senthilbalaji claimed the current government was procuring electricity at Rs 35 per unit, compared with Rs 20 per unit during the DMK regime.

Taking a swipe at Nirmalkumar, Senthilbalaji said: "His name is not CTR Nirmal Kumar, but Collection Kumar."

During the press meet, he played a campaign video clip of the TVK leader and present Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay criticising the previous DMK regime for purchasing electricity at higher rates.

Senthilbalaji said electricity demand in Tamil Nadu rose from 16,000 MW to 20,830 MW during the DMK regime, while 4,349 MW of capacity was added over five years. Power generation had also increased from 22,000 million units to 29,000 million units during the period, he claimed.

He alleged that the present government was reducing Tangedco's own generation and relying increasingly on private power purchases, particularly from Andhra Pradesh. He questioned why the coal tender process had been halted and urged the government to strengthen its own generation capacity.

Claiming that the DMK government had reduced Tangedco's debt burden from Rs 14,000 crore to Rs 900 crore, he said industries in the Coimbatore region were incurring daily losses of around Rs 10 crore due to power cuts.

He also alleged irregularities in solar power procurement, claiming that a scam involving around Rs 15 lakh per MW has been exposed. Accusing the government of rushing power procurement tenders, he said the electricity department was being made dysfunctional and pushed towards privatisation.