The State Government has constituted a nine-member committee to explore ways to tackle the prevailing power shortage in Tamil Nadu.
According to an official press release the committee headed by the Minister for Electricity, Prohibition and Excise, will meet every week on Mondays, discuss the power situation and submit a report to the Chief Minister.
The decision follows a review meeting in the Secretariat by the Chief Minister, J. Jayalalithaa. The Electricity Minister and the Ministers for Finance, Rural Administration and Housing, senior officials including the Chief Secretary participated in the meeting. They discussed the power shortage, the implementation of power projects in the pipeline and ways to expedite the projects.
According to official statistics, the installed power generation capacity in the State is about 10,300 MW with renewable energy projects giving an additional 7,500 MW. But the average availability is about 8,500 MW. The demand ranges from 11,500 MW to 12,500 MW. Over the last four years, the electricity utility has resorted to "restriction and control measures" such as power cuts and load shedding to manage the deficit.
Over 3,000 MW of power generation capacity is expected to be added in the next six months and this would alleviate the power shortage.