Tamil Nadu planned to provide electricity connection to all the 5.2 lakh below poverty line households at a cost of Rs 447.41 crore by the end of this year, state Electricity Minister Arcot N Veerasamy said on Sunday.
“With the approval of the Union Government, Tamil Nadu has taken up the Rajiv Gandhi Grammen Vidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY) in 26 districts with an outlay of Rs 447.41 crores and planned to electrify all the 5.24 lakh BPL households before the end of 2009”, he said at the Power Minister’s Conference in Delhi.
In his speech, a copy of which was circulated to media here, he said about 3.40 lakh BPL houses were already energised.
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Expressing confidence that the targeted addition of 5055 MW fixed for the 11th Fiver year plan for the state would be completed within the time frame, he urged the Centre to address the shortage of skilled personnel and equipment supplies, which were the main ‘bottlenecks’.
Pointing out that the Centre was aware that many states were buying electricity at high cost from independent power producers, he urged the Centre to grant exemption of excise duty to liquid fuel so that the overall cost of generation would be reduced at least to the tune of 50 to 60 paise per unit.