The Tamil Nadu government has cancelled short-term power procurement tenders after bidders quoted rates ranging from Rs 37 to Rs 41 per unit, with Energy Minister Nirmal Kumar calling the prices unreasonable and saying the state has sufficient power for the next three months.
The decision comes amid opposition criticism over the proposed high procurement rates, with DMK leader Udhayanidhi Stalin earlier slamming Vijay's government as a "rotten government" and alleging that consumers would bear the burden of higher costs through electricity bills.
Announcing the decision, Nirmal Kumar said the government would not purchase electricity at the rates quoted by the bidders, who had submitted their offers when the tender was opened on Tuesday.
"We are not going to do any purchase of power for the quoted rates of Rs 37 to 41," the minister said.
He said Tamil Nadu had sufficient power to manage its requirements for the next three months and that electricity was being procured in advance for the next summer. Describing the quoted prices as unreasonable, he said he had instructed officials to cancel the tender.
The minister also announced plans to issue medium- and long-term tenders for power procurement covering the next 20 years.
"Hence there won't be any more gas purchase for higher price," he said, adding that he had already instructed the cancellation of the tender.
UDHAYANIDHI STALIN TARGETS VIJAY GOVERNMENT
DMK leader Udhayanidhi Stalin had earlier strongly criticised the TVK government, questioning the proposed electricity procurement rates and alleging that the higher costs could be passed on to consumers through electricity bills.
"I strongly condemn the fact that in the rotten regime of Cheap CM, buying a unit of electricity for Rs 35 is not enough and in the next phase, buying a unit of electricity for Rs 41 is going to be bought," he said.
Udhayanidhi also questioned the arguments made in defence of the government's power procurement costs, referring to attempts to cite electricity generation costs in Rajasthan as the purchase price.
"Is this why, two days ago, from half-dozen to online abusers, they were rolling the cost of electricity generation somewhere in Rajasthan as the purchase price?" he asked.
Accusing the government of failing to provide effective administration, Udhayanidhi alleged that the higher cost of purchasing electricity would be passed on to people through their power bills. He referred to Vijay as the "dummy CM" in his post.
However, amid the criticism, the government decided against procuring electricity at the higher rates and cancelled the tender.
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