PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss on Monday asked why Neyveli Lignite Corporation India Limited is bent on acquiring agricultural lands for expansions of its mine to extract lignite when State Electricity Minister V. Senthilbalaji has said that the Tamil Nadu is an electricity surplus state.
In a statement, he said Tamil Nadu has capacity to generate 36,000 MW while the demand is only between 18,000 MW-19,000 MW. “Even if the demand increased by 10-20%, Tamil Nadu has the capacity to meet it. But, my question is why is the government allowing the NLCIL to operate in the State despite producing very less electricity and damaging the environment,” he said.
According to him, NLCIL’s contribution to the State’s electricity needs is negligible. “For instance, Tamil Nadu’s demand on May 19 was 17, 389 MW. Of this, NLC generates only 407 MW which is just 2.34%. There is no need to worry about power generated by NLC even if the demand increases by 20%,” he said.
