TN Committed to Creating Transparent, Policy-Driven environment for energy investors: Minister

Tamil Nadu government is committed to ensuring a transparent and policy-driven environment for energy investors as it aims to revitalise the solar and wind energy sectors, state Energy Resources Minister C T R Nirmal Kumar said on Tuesday.

A new standardised policy would be launched within a week to simplify project approvals and eliminate the influence of intermediaries. The department was also prioritising load-flow studies and integration of battery-stored solar and wind power to stabilise the grid, he said.

Stating that private participation would be encouraged in power generation, the minister told reporters here that the core distribution would however remain under the control of the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board.

On administrative reforms, he said the two regional centres - Udumalpet and Tirunelveli - have been restructured to reduce procedural "delays and external influence." Approval has been centralised and steps were on to address corruption and administrative interference, he added.

"The government has initiated transparent meetings with energy sector investors to share its vision for the next 25-30 years and ensure better cooperation. The government plans to enable battery-stored solar and wind energy and efforts are on to analyse load-flow to optimise existing infrastructure and eliminate inefficiencies," Kumar said.

Earlier, speaking at the 25th edition of Green Power 2026 here, the minister called for standardising renewable energy and power sector in the country to meet the increasing requirements for power in the next 20-30 years.

Realising that there were "gaps in policies and standardisation" in the sector, immediately after he took over as minister, he reviewed the existing policy relating to distribution, including solar power generation.

"We understood that overall India needs standardisation on this. So, it's high time for us to now standardise the whole renewable energy sector because a lot of people have invested and we don't have the transmission capacity to carry the load. Even Tamil Nadu could carry only around 15,000 megawatts power," the minister said.

Underscoring that growth cannot be achieved without standardising, Kumar said a long-term vision and related policy was vital to meet the requirement for the next 20-30 years.

Tamil Nadu started with such a long-term vision in the renewable energy sector and was analysing the transmission capacity. It was putting in place a transparent mechanism for the benefit of investors and public, he said.

"Renewable energy is the only future and states like Tamil Nadu which has 300 sunny days and very good wind, could benefit a lot," he said, and added that the resources would aid in the generation.

Kumar said procedures were being simplified through an online single-window system for renewable energy applications, with a coordination committee bridging gaps and addressing stoppages.

Plans include establishing an R&D unit and a centre of excellence to integrate new technologies, fostering collaboration with power generators and targeting 10,000 - 15,000 MW of renewable energy within 4-5 years. The initial focus was on solar and wind with battery storage, while all investments since 1995 were being reviewed to facilitate repowering and new ventures, the minister said.