TN government initiates talks with experts from IIT-Madras to address power cut issues

CTR Nirmal Kumar, TN Minister for Energy Resources

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As Chennai experiences widespread power outages and as the new TVK Government takes steps to modernise the power generation and transmission, the department has decided to bring in new-age technologies such as AI and analytics to better manage the situation.Tamil Nadu Electricity Minister CTR Nirmal Kumar and other department officials recently held a meeting with faculty who are part of the Energy Consortium at IIT-Madras to explore the idea of setting up of an R&D centre in Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO) to help achieve grid optimisation.We had an initial meeting with the power department officials as they wanted to discuss how technologies like analytics and AI can help better manage the power situation, and depending on further decisions, our relationship may be carried forward, . Satyanarayanan Seshadri, Associate Professor, Applied Mechanics, and faculty-in-charge of Energy Consortium, told businessline. As Tamil Nadu is generating high levels of renewable and thermal power, the department intends to find ways to efficiently integrate this into the grid, he added.According to Seshadri, large volumes of data get generated across the power value chain, so the intention of the policymakers is to leverage AI and analytics to find patterns in the power generation and transmission and accordingly generate insights. Some of these insights could help in better utilisation of renewable and thermal power and better power pricing strategies, he said.Sources in TN’s power department confirmed the meeting with the IIT-Madras team, but declined to share more details on the development.The Power Minister has been stressing that there is no shortage of power but a need to modernise the infrastructure and better manage the grid. At a recent CII event, Kumar also stressed that the government plans to add 10–15 GW of renewable energy capacity in the State over the next 4-5 years.The Energy Consortium at IIT Madras brings all energy related efforts together under one large umbrella. The joint industry-academia collaboration body includes over 50 IIT Madras Faculty from multiple technology disciplines, over 250 graduate and doctoral students and post doctoral fellows.Published on June 19, 2026