Former Electricity Minister V Senthil Balaji on Tuesday, October 13, accused the C Joseph Vijay-led Tamil Nadu government of corruption in its power procurement, alleging it had cut generation from state-owned plants and was buying electricity from the open market at up to Rs 35 per unit while the previous Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) government had procured it for just Rs 20 per unit.
Speaking to reporters at the DMK headquarters, Anna Arivalayam, in Chennai, Senthil Balaji compared the current rate with the maximum Rs 20 per unit paid for electricity purchases during the previous government.
“The government is reducing its own power generation and buying electricity from the open market at Rs 35 per unit. Corruption and irregularities are the total reason for this,” he alleged.
Senthil Balaji also played a video from the 2026 Assembly election campaign in which Vijay, then an opposition leader, criticised the previous government for buying electricity from private suppliers at high rates. Vijay had said the purchases were affecting industries and alleged that tenders were being floated to procure power at inflated prices.
“Back then, the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) leader raised these allegations as the opposition. Now, after becoming Chief Minister, his government is doing the same thing,” Senthil Balaji said.
The former Minister alleged that power generation from state-owned facilities had fallen from about 60-75% of demand to 30-35%, forcing Tamil Nadu to rely more on expensive purchases from private suppliers in other states, including Andhra Pradesh. He questioned why the state was paying high rates when, he claimed, those states were not buying electricity at comparable prices.
Senthil Balaji said the previous DMK government had planned for peak demand by initiating tenders in November and December for electricity needed during March, April and May. He said demand rose from around 16,000 MW to 20,830 MW during the DMK’s five years in office, but the state maintained uninterrupted supply through advance planning. He added that electricity was bought when generation at state-owned plants was disrupted and that the state sold 8,600 million units of surplus power to other states during the previous administration.
The former Minister pointed out that power cuts had become frequent across the state, including during government functions, events attended by ministers and judges, even at the Secretariat.
Residents, including those in Chief Minister Vijay's Perambur constituency, had been raising complaints about power cuts, he said.
He also slammed the government for their inconsistent statements about the power crisis which included claims about a missing fuse carrier, the minister referring to some officials as “black sheep” in the department and making comparisons with the power cuts in Punjab.
He warned that high-cost procurement could worsen the finances of the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO), projecting its debt could rise from Rs 2.4 lakh crore to around Rs 5 lakh crore by the end of the government’s term.
Responding to criticism, Electricity Minister CTR Nirmal Kumar said Tamil Nadu was facing a shortage because of rising demand due to persistent heat and reduced availability of electricity from other sources.
The Minister said the state's electricity demand had risen from 16,800 MW last year to around 21,700 MW this year. He attributed the increased power consumption to continued heat and the El Nino phenomenon.
According to Nirmal Kumar, wind energy up to 3000 MW and 1,800 MW from Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC) were unavailable and the state had already procured 430 MW of electricity from Assam.
The government planned to purchase Rs 35 per unit to meet peak-hour demand. The electricity would be used only between 6 pm and midnight, the minister said.
"The procurement would result in an additional expenditure of Rs 5 crore a day. Without the purchase, Tamil Nadu could face power cuts lasting two to three hours," Nirmal Kumar told the reporters.
He also said the high-priced purchase was a temporary measure to prevent outages between October 15 and 31 and also announced plans are underway to procure electricity for long-term consumption. For the current crisis, he blamed the previous DMK government saying that they failed to anticipate the rising demand and implement necessary measures.
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