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.Of the 50,000 connections, 20,000 will come under the normal category, with the govt bearing the entire cost. Another 3,372 will come under the self-financing scheme, in which farmers deposit the cost for the required load. The tatkal fastrack scheme, which has a shorter waiting period, will cover 25,282 connections. Various govt schemes will cover the remaining 1,346.The govt will subsidise the recurring expenditure (consumption charges) for the new connections, estimated at ₹127.56 crore. It released more than ₹7,000 crore as a free-power subsidy for farmers in 2025-26. TNPDCL will bear the installation cost of about ₹750 crore.The govt has supplied free power to farmers as a policy and compensates the utility through a subsidy. 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.According to the GO, TNPDCL provided 7,313 connections since April this year, and these count toward the 50,000. 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.
