Several power projects totalling a capacity of 3,600 megawatt, were likely to be completed by 2013-14; while some were Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation's (TANGEDCO) projects, others were joint ventures and independent projects, said A. Nachadalingam, Chief Engineer (Distribution) of Madurai Region.
The TANGEDCO was aware of the serious hardships caused to the public and industry by power supply interruptions and was taking serious efforts to address the issue. “We know of the consumers' demand and are ready to meet them. The Chairman and Managing Director of TANGEDCO (Hans Raj Verma) is keen on ensuring that all such problems are solved expeditiously,” he said.
He was addressing the second programme of the Mission Madurai series, an interface of readers, members of residents and traders' welfare associations and voluntary organisations on the topic, ‘Power scenario,' organised here on Friday by The Hindu in association with the Tamil Nadu Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Giving a list of conventional and unconventional power projects under way in the State, he said that Tamil Nadu was on its way to achieve self-sufficiency in power.
Speaking about power supply interruptions, he said that while the power authorities worked hard to avoid them, the gap between generation and demand fluctuated and it was hard to predict or avoid them.
After his lecture, Mr. Nachadalingam and his team of officials took questions from the audience during an hour-long interactive session.
Speaking earlier, chamber senior president S. Rethinavelu said that with Madurai getting industrialised, demand for power was bound to increase. Uninterrupted and quality power supply was essential for the growth of the region.
The TNEB was accruing losses of nearly Rs. 9,000 crore on account of its subsidies to agriculture and domestic consumers. While concurring with the need for supplying free power to farmers, he said that it must be metered. He also spoke against cross-subsidisation of agricultural consumers by the industry.
Chamber president N. Jegatheesan said that medium and small scale industries suffered greatly on account of sudden disruptions in power supply. The TANGEDCO could utilise the huge sums spent on power purchases from private sources, estimated to be around Rs. 5,000 crore, to construct new plants.
S. Eswarasubramanian, Executive Engineer (Electrical), K. Thangaraj, Superintending Engineer, Madurai, K.S. Varatharajan, Superintending Engineer, Madurai Metro, also attended the programme.
