Published Oct 13, 2026 | 1:35 PM ⚊ Updated Oct 13, 2026 | 1:35 PM
Energy Minister CTR Nirmal Kumar speaking to the media.
DMK leader and former Electricity Minister V Senthil Balaji on Tuesday accused the TVK government of mishandling power procurement and failing to address power cuts, instead moving towards privatisation of the electricity sector.
Senthil Balaji played a campaign video of Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay accusing the previous DMK government of purchasing electricity at higher rates while talking to the media at Anna Arivalayam in Chennai. Responding to the allegations, he claimed that the TVK government was now procuring power at ₹35 per unit, compared with ₹20 per unit during the DMK regime.
Calling the TVK government a “reel government”, Senthil Balaji alleged that power cuts had occurred even at the Secretariat and accused Energy Minister CTR Nirmal Kumar of evading questions on the issue. He said the government had failed to take concrete measures to resolve power cuts in the past four months.
Senthil Balaji said electricity demand in Tamil Nadu had increased from 16,000 MW to 20,830 MW during the DMK regime, adding that 4,349 MW of capacity had been added over five years. He also claimed that power generation had increased from 22,000 million units to 29,000 million units under the previous government.
He alleged that the present government was reducing TANGEDCO’s own power generation and increasingly relying on private power purchases, particularly from Andhra Pradesh. He urged the government to strengthen its own generation capacity and questioned why the coal tender process had been halted.
The former minister said the DMK government had reduced TANGEDCO’s debt burden from ₹14,000 crore to ₹900 crore. He also claimed that industries in the Coimbatore region were suffering daily losses of around ₹10 crore due to power cuts.
Accusing the TVK government of hastily handling power procurement tenders, Senthil Balaji alleged that the electricity department was being made dysfunctional and was moving towards privatisation. He urged the Energy Minister to consult officials before taking decisions.
Senthil Balaji also alleged irregularities in solar power procurement, claiming that a scam involving around ₹15 lakh per MW was underway. He accused the government of corruption in TANGEDCO and criticised the Energy Minister’s statements on power cuts.
Taking a swipe at Nirmal Kumar, Senthil Balaji said, “His name is not CTR Nirmal Kumar, but Collection Kumar.”
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Politics or maintenance failures: What’s behind Tamil Nadu’s growing power outages?
(With inputs from Subash Chandra Bose. Edited by R Rajesh Kumar.)
