TN Electricity Min to seek power from Centre

Chennai, Sep 4: Tamil Nadu Electricity Minister Arcot N Veerasamy left here today for New Delhi to seek power from the Centre to tide over the power crisis in the State.

Mr Veerasamy was accompanied by Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB) Chairman Machendranathan.

During his visit, Mr Veerasamy would meet Union Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and request him to allocate additional power to the state from the central grid.

He would also meet Minister of State for Coal Santhosh Bagrodia and request him to step up power generation in the Neyveli Lignite Power Corporation and provide additional power to the state.

Mr Veerasamy was expected to return to the city tonight.

The Centre is already giving 100 MW to Tamil Nadu, but the state was facing a shortage of more than 2000 MW. Against the demand of about 10,000 MW of power, the state could mobilise only about 8,000 MW of power.

The Electricity Board has resorted to increased power cuts throughout the state ranging from 90 minutes in the city to three hours in suburbs. Elsewhere, in the State, the government had announced load shedding upto five hours.

The state government attributed the sudden crisis due to fall in wind energy production. Adding to woes was shutting down of hydel power stations due to the failure of monsoon.

UNI