PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss on Sunday said the State Government must order a probe under the supervision of the Madras High Court into the purchase of 917.6 crore units of electricity at a cost of ₹13,179 crore for 2023-24.

In a statement, he said “The ruling dispensation has been chest thumping that Tamil Nadu has become a power-surplus state but 70% of the electricity needs are being taken from Central government’s public sector units and the rest is being procured from private companies. Taking into account Tamil Nadu’s electricity demand and production, a plan was drawn to decide how much electricity should be procured from outside, which will be approved by Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission. Not even once the TNEB has adhered to such regulatory limits.”

According to him, while TNERC approved the purchase of 7,373 crore units from various sources at a cost of ₹42,575 crore, TNEB purchased an additional 917.6 crore units from private sources. “For this, an extra ₹13,179 crore was spent at an average rate of ₹14.36 per unit. This is indefensible,” he said.