AIADMK, DMK locked in ‘powerful’ debate

“The ruling AIADMK government has added a massive 15,410 megawatt (MW) of power in the last years and due to the efforts, Tamil Nadu has now become a power surplus state. It was not the condition during the rule of DMK as only 206 MW of power was added between 2006 and 2011 due to which there was severe scarcity of power and unscheduled power cuts up to 12 hours per day during DMK rule,” said State Electricity Minister P Thangamani, at the assembly.

Thangamani, presenting his reply in the assembly said that the present average power demand of the State is about 14,500 to 15,500 MW and this summer the peak demand is expected to be around 17,000 to 17,500 MW. “State government is fully prepared to meet the rising power demands in the State,” said Thangamani.

After the reply, DMK Treasurer Duraimurugan said that all the power projects which are being implemented now by the AIADMK government were all announced by the DMK government. Duraimurugan also questioned the status of the already announced power projects by the AIADMK government.

“Former Electricity Minister Natham R Viswanathan while reading the policy note of 2013-14 said that Ennore Thermal Power plant would be completed in 2017 and the special power zone in Ennore would be completed in 2018-19. Viswanathan also announced that Udangudi Thermal Power plant project would be completed but it was DMK which gave permission for Udangudi power scheme,” said Duraimurugan.

Duraimurugan also said that State’s claim of being power surplus is not true as State’s demand of power is not completely met by the projects of the State government. When State is purchasing from other agencies outside the State how can the State claim that it is surplus, asked Duraimurugan.

Thangamani replied that no state is India is able to meet its demands from their own power plants and all the states are purchasing power from private and other sources to meet their demands. Even the purchase from private players were not done by the DMK government and asked Duraimurugan who prevented DMK government from purchasing power from private players.

Duraimurugan replied that DMK government purchased power only when necessity arose and due to this vague purchase Tangedco is in debt to the tune of Rs 1.33 lakh crore.

Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami replied that the debt is due to the loss incurred by the Tangedco in distribution.

“The cost of distribution is higher when compared to the production cost and the State government is distributing power at a lower cost. The loss is due to the cost borne by the State government in supplying power at a lower cost,” said Chief Minister.

In an unexpected turn of events, senior DMK leader Duraimurgan lauded state Electricity Minister P Thangamani for his speech in the assembly. “Usually I see Ministers reply to the queries by reading the papers in their hands but all the replies of Thangamani were extempore. Only a Minister with a thorough knowledge of his department can give fluent replies to the queries and it is a matter of pride to every Minister,” said Duraimurugan, who also said that only the Minister deserves appreciation but not his Ministry. Earlier, Duraimurugan also appreciated Thangamani for his tenth year as Minister and said that being a Minister for 10 years is a huge challenge.