During the meeting, officials informed the Chief Minister that Tamil Nadu currently has adequate power generation and power procurement arrangements to meet the State’s electricity requirements, ensuring that there is no power shortage anywhere in the State. However, occasional power interruptions continue to occur in certain urban areas, including Chennai, due to ageing electrical equipment, faults in underground power cables, rising electricity consumption, maintenance works, and accidental damage to power cables during road excavation activities carried out by various service departments.
To address these issues permanently, the government has planned power distribution infrastructure improvement projects worth approximately ₹2,275 crore exclusively for the Chennai Metropolitan Area. Across Tamil Nadu, 121 new and upgraded substations are being established at a cost of ₹10,109 crore. In addition, plans are underway to construct 231 new substations with an estimated investment of ₹15,032 crore.
As part of efforts to enhance power distribution services and ensure faster restoration during outages, 77 new Fuse-Off Call centres, seven additional emergency maintenance teams, 125 power repair vehicles, 10 high-level monitoring teams, and two underground cable fault detection teams have already been deployed. These measures are expected to significantly improve response times and provide quicker solutions to public complaints.
The Chief Minister was also informed that public grievances related to electricity services are being monitored round the clock through the Minnagam service centre (94987 94987) via telephone and social media platforms. A WhatsApp-based complaint management system is also being integrated and is expected to be launched shortly to facilitate easier access for consumers.
The government is simultaneously focusing on meeting future power demand through renewable energy projects, Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS), new thermal power stations, and hydropower projects. Officials highlighted that these initiatives are aimed at ensuring long-term energy security and sustainable development for the State.
Reiterating the government’s commitment to providing quality, reliable, and uninterrupted electricity to the public, the Chief Minister directed officials to take immediate action on all power-related complaints. He instructed the authorities to recruit 15,058 power sector personnel through proper procedures, expedite the procurement of essential electrical materials, and deploy field staff for regular patrol and monitoring duties.
With specific reference to Chennai, CM Vijay ordered that the existing 125 patrol teams be engaged in continuous field operations and respond promptly to emergency complaints to ensure quick fault rectification and uninterrupted power supply to consumers.
The meeting was attended by Energy and Law Minister C.T.R. Nirmalkumar, Chief Secretary Dr. M. Saikumar, Additional Chief Secretary and TNEB Chairman J. Radhakrishnan, Finance Department Additional Chief Secretary M.A. Siddique, Energy Department Principal Secretary Anil Meshram, Tamil Nadu Power Generation Corporation Managing Director M. Govinda Rao, Green Energy Corporation Managing Director P.N. Sridhar, and other senior government officials.