Edappadi Palaniswami has condemned TVK leader and Chief Minister Vijay, who is eager to hand over the electricity board to private interests.
In Tamil Nadu, where unannounced power cuts have been in effect for more than a month, the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board has decided to buy electricity from the open market to cope with the situation. Accordingly, the electricity board, which had invited tenders to purchase 4,500 megawatts of electricity, has entered into an agreement with private power companies that submitted bids to buy electricity at an average price of Rs. 35 per unit, ranging from Rs. 31.99 to Rs. 37 per unit.
In this situation, in this regard, AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi Palaniswami has also issued a statement.
In that statement, “Due to the inexperience and administrative incompetence of the T.V.K. coalition government, which unexpectedly came to power in Tamil Nadu 5 months ago, frequent power cuts have plunged the entire state into darkness!
Because of the electricity shortage that has arisen for no reason, the people of Tamil Nadu are suffering greatly. The people have begun to wonder whether these rulers are trying to engage in scientific corruption by taking advantage of the hardships faced by the people of Tamil Nadu!
On one hand, people are suffering without electricity! On the other hand, there is the sky-high rise in prices of all goods, especially food items! These incompetent rulers are showing eagerness to buy electricity and essential food items from private parties at high prices, taking commissions, in the name of protecting the people from these hardships. This is unacceptable!
After Jayalalithaa assumed office in 2011, she held several consultative meetings to address the major failure of the DMK regime: the persistent power cuts. She found that many power generation projects had been canceled during the DMK rule and that no new projects had been started, and she launched several new power generation projects.
She corrected the irregularities in the power infrastructure and transformed Tamil Nadu into a state without power cuts. Subsequently, because the government led by Amma under my leadership also took such continuous measures, Tamil Nadu emerged as a power-surplus state. However, the present incompetent T.V.K. government does not appear to have conducted any such studies.
No measures have been taken to increase power generation. It has created many irregularities in the power transmission infrastructure and administration, causing power cuts in many places across Tamil Nadu every day, plunging Tamil Nadu into darkness and subjecting the people of Tamil Nadu to unbearable suffering.
It has been reported that under the current T.V.K. government, the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board has awarded contracts to 5 private companies to purchase 4,400 megawatts of electricity daily from Oct. 12 to 31; and it is shocking that, unprecedented in history, it has entered into an agreement to procure electricity at an extremely high average price of Rs. 35 per unit!
After coming to power last May, reports said that contracts were signed to purchase electricity at a high price of Rs. 11 to 20 per unit; and that the T.V.K. government canceled those contracts citing suspicion that corruption may have taken place in them.
Last June, the T.V.K. government released a white paper promising to enter into low-cost power contracts for the long term. However, media reports now say that, at more than twice the price of the old contracts, this T.V.K. government has entered into a short-term contract with private parties at a very high rate of Rs. 32 to Rs. 37 per unit.
Reports have emerged that even before the Tamil Nadu government urgently called for tenders, that is, as early as Sept. 9, the Andhra government had finalized purchasing electricity for the month of October at a price of Rs. 16-20 per unit.
No other state has entered into contracts at the Rs. 32-37 price undertaken by this T.V.K. government. In the power exchange market, the average price has recently been Rs. 7-10, and in bilateral agreements, the price of some contracts for peak-hour demand has been close to Rs. 20.
Previously, electricity was purchased both from the central pool and from private parties. Board officials say that at those times, the average cost per unit was around Rs. 15.
“Condemnation of Joseph Vijay’s fake-horse government, which is eager to hand over the already debt-ridden Tamil Nadu Electricity Board to private interests by entering into high-priced contracts to buy one unit of electricity!” he also noted.
Edappadi Palaniswami has condemned TVK leader and Chief Minister Vijay for his eagerness to hand over the Electricity Board to the private sector.