TANGEDCO targets Rs. 400-crore rise in income

Chairman directs top officials to strictly tackle power theft

Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO) is targeting an increase of Rs.400 crore in monthly revenue during the current financial year. While the present revenue is Rs.1,800 crore per month, TANGEDCO is aiming at increasing it to Rs.2,200 crore.

Chairman and Managing Director Hans Raj Verma has directed officials in all the nine TANGEDCO regions across the State to stringently tackle power theft and arrest revenue loss, highly placed sources told The Hindu on Sunday.

He held a meeting here on Tuesday with top officials from the TANGEDCO Madurai Region, during which he informed that separate revenue targets would be set for all TANGEDCO regions. He told the officials that TNEB headquarters must be constantly informed on all initiatives taken towards loss reduction and revenue leakage.

The TNEB Headquarters would also send account teams across the State to cross check the efficiency of bill assessment and tariff application as revenue augmentation was a top priority.

According to sources, the CMD informed that the power bill assessment done by assessors must be cross checked by the Inspector of Assessors frequently to ensure the tariffs were being applied accurately. Defective meters must be replaced expeditiously. Power theft through hooks and diversion of domestic power line for commercial purposes must be controlled.

Terming the motivation of personnel as a high priority, he said that customer satisfaction should be ensured through preventing unscheduled power cuts and attending complaints expeditiously.

Mr. Hans Raj Verma also instructed that all section officers should meet at least 15 consumers every month and report their grievances and the measures initiated to their superiors. According to senior officials, TANGEDCO Madurai Region, which comprised five southern districts, has monthly revenue of Rs.130 crore. The Madurai Region has been told to enhance its revenues to Rs.150 crore.

Identifying sites

The TANGEDCO CMD had come to Tuticorin and Ramanathapuram to identify sites for new thermal power plants. He held discussions with local revenue officials on land allotment and acquisitions. He was accompanied by K. Balasubramanian, Director (Generation), TANGEDCO, N. Sasikumar, President and Chief Executive Officer of Udangudi Power Corporation and R. Ganapathy Sankaran, Superintending Engineer (Project), TANGEDCO.