Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], June 25 (ANI): Asserting that the Tamil Nadu government is working to bring the state electricity board back from a period of heavy debt, state Minister for Energy Resources and Law, CTR Nirmal Kumar on Thursday said the recently published White Paper on Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB) finances provides a roadmap for the utility's "stabilisation" and future growth.
Speaking on the findings of the White Paper, the Minister highlighted that the document exposes how debt levels surged alongside infrastructure investments over the last 25 years.
"TNEB has published the white paper today. We have shown the journey of TNEB over the last 25 years, from 2001. We have shown the infrastructure development that has been done, the new projects in which TNEB has invested, and how the debt has increased so much," Kumar told reporters.
The Minister emphasised that the government, under the guidance of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Vijay, has already initiated a recovery process to restore the financial health of the board.
"With the new government CM's advice, we have already started working on the progress to bring the TNEB back... We are completely focusing on the new growth and want to stabilise TNEB," he added.
This comes after Kumar released a detailed White Paper statement earlier today on the infrastructure, finances, human resources, logistics, materials, ongoing project works, revenue, and expenditure of the TNEB.
Addressing the gathering, CTR Nirmal Kumar said that there will be no tariff hike by Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB).
He said, "This year, there will be no tariff hike by Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB). We will not sign any order for tariff hike by TNEB this year in Tamil Nadu. Free electricity scheme for farmers will continue."
Addressing the concerns over the smart meter project, he said that they will be fixing them in government buildings. However, no decision has been made to install smart meters in houses.
Nirmal Kumar said, "We have a compulsion to fix it in government buildings alone. We have not made any decision till now to fix smart meters in houses. We are thinking of doing a test process on it, and we have not taken any policy decision to fix smart meters in homes in our state."
Earlier on June 16, Tamil Nadu Finance Minister Marie Wilson released a White Paper regarding the state's fiscal position.
Tamil Nadu's debt burden has increased over the past five years, with the state's debt-to-GSDP (Gross State Domestic Product) ratio reaching 28.3 per cent in 2025-26 (Revised Estimates), according to figures released in the fiscal white paper. (ANI)
