Chennai: The state govt has ordered the Tamil Nadu Power Distribution Corporation (TNPDCL) to provide 50,000 free farm electricity connections this year. The energy department has now issued a govt order (GO) on a proposal TNPDCL sent following an announcement in this regard by electricity minister C T R Nirmal Kumar during the budget session in the assembly in Aug.
About 24 lakh agricultural connections receive free power. The previous DMK govt provided 1.70 lakh free agricultural connections between 2021 and 2026, but more than 3 lakh farmers still await a connection. TNPDCL provided 7,313 connections since April this year, and these count toward the 50,000, according to the GO.
The govt has supplied free power to farmers as a policy and compensates the utility through a subsidy. The govt also directed TNPDCL to verify in detail whether existing agricultural connections are misclassified; that is, whether they are used for their intended purpose, and to weed out ineligible claims, citing the high cost of power purchase and the corporation’s critical financial position.