Tamil Nadu CM Vijay's Big Power Push: 231 Substations And 15,058 New Workers

In a major push to strengthen Tamil Nadu's electricity network and ensure reliable power supply, Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay on Tuesday ordered the construction of 231 new substations at an estimated cost of ₹15,032 crore .

The decision was taken during a high-level review meeting of the Energy Department at the Secretariat, where the state's power generation, demand, distribution and grid infrastructure were assessed with officials of the Tamil Nadu Power Distribution Corporation Limited (TNPDCL) and its subsidiary companies.

The chief minister also directed the immediate recruitment of 15,058 power workers to address electricity-related faults, improve maintenance operations and enhance consumer services. He further instructed technical personnel to intensify field patrolling to help prevent power disruptions.

According to an official release, the review found that Tamil Nadu currently has adequate power generation and procurement capacity , resulting in zero electricity shortage across the state. However, temporary outages in certain urban areas, including Chennai, have been linked to aging equipment, underground cable faults, rising power consumption, maintenance activities and accidental damage to power cables during civic works.

To improve service delivery and speed up grievance redressal, the government has already deployed 77 new Fuse-Off Call (FOC) centres , seven additional breakdown repair teams, 125 repair vehicles , 10 high-level monitoring committees and two underground cable fault detection teams.

The infrastructure expansion forms part of Tamil Nadu's broader energy planning strategy aimed at meeting growing electricity demand driven by industrial growth, urbanisation and increasing consumer requirements. The state has been investing in strengthening generation, transmission and distribution systems while modernising aging infrastructure and improving grid reliability.

The proposed substations are expected to enhance the distribution network, reduce outages, support future demand growth and ensure uninterrupted power supply across Tamil Nadu in the coming years.