TN to absorb full losses of Tangedco

The Tamil Nadu Government will spend ₹13,108 crore to absorb the full losses of Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Company (Tangedco), the State power utility, for FY22. The government has allocated ₹9,379 crore to compensate the utility for tariff subsidy.

“The financial condition of Tangedco is a matter of grave concern as it continues to incur huge losses every year,” said Finance Minister Palanivel Thiagarajan.

Thiagarajan in the budget also announced that the Perasiriyar Anbazhagan School Development Scheme, aimed atmodernising government schools, will be launched over the next five years. Along with necessary infrastructure in government schools, 18,000 new classrooms will be constructed.

To motivate government school students to aspire to join premier higher education institutions like Indian Institute of Technology, Indian Institute of Science and All India Institute of Medical Sciences, the government will bear the full cost of their undergraduate education. The students who have studied in government schools from classes 6th to 12th will be eligible to avail this assistance, Rajan said.

Knowledge city

A knowledge city will be developed through international collaboration. This city will have branches of world-renowned universities with research and development hubs, skill training centres and knowledge-based enterprises.

To encourage transit-oriented development in certain corridors such as metro rail, suburban rail, national highways and bye-pass roads, the existing Floor Space Index will be raised in adjoining areas.

The government is committed to revive and implement the Maduravoyal-Chennai Port Elevated Corridor Project, which is vital to the commercial development of Chennai. A 20.6-km long double-decker elevated corridor at an estimated cost of ₹5,770 crore will be constructed. An DPR is under preparation by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). To implement this project, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the NHAI, Government of Tamil Nadu, the Navy and Chennai Port will be signed soon, he said.

Under the Climate-Friendly Modernisation of Buses in Major Cities of Tamil Nadu Project, 2,213 BS-VI new diesel buses and 500 new electric buses will be procured, he said.

An allocation of ₹7,475 crore has been made to the Revenue and Disaster Management Department in the Budget. The government will establish an advanced early warning system with supercomputers, a system of weather balloons, two weather radars, 100 automatic weather stations, 400 automatic rain gauges and 11 automatic water level instruments.

Satyakam Arya, Chairman, CII Tamil Nadu, said that budget was presented with the aim to strengthen the fiscal position of the State without increasing the tax burden of the taxpayers, increasing employability of the youth, attracting new investments and data driven governance. The reduction of fiscal deficit from 4.33 per cent to 3.80 per cent is a great achievement of the State government despite the pandemic situation and lockdowns during the last fiscal year, he added.

V Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras, said that the government’s announcement to fund education for undergraduate programmes in IIT for the State's students is a very welcome announcement. IIT Madras will work very closely with the TN Government and the government schools to see that the maximum number of deserving students are benefited by this scheme.

Commenting on the budget, Srivats Ram, President, MCCI, lauded the plan to take over Tangedco losses for the year but suggested that some sectoral reforms are also to be thought of for a long-term solution. While the allotment for the credit guarantee scheme is a welcome move to help MSMEs, the earlier shortcomings of the scheme also need to be addressed to make it more effective. MCCI has been emphasising that the State should emerge as a R&D hub, and is happy to about the State creating a knowledge city and encouraging research centres in institutions. The broad-based approach in social sectors like healthcare, water and sanitation, education and housing will enable a holistic development of the State, he said.