TNEB Limited (Tamil Nadu Electricity Board Limited) is a power utility company in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It functions as the holding company in the restructured electricity sector of the state, overseeing the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity through its subsidiary entities. TNEB Limited is owned by the Government of Tamil Nadu and forms part of the successor framework to the erstwhile Tamil Nadu Electricity Board.
| Name | TNEB Limited |
|---|---|
| Type | State government-owned holding company |
| Industry | Electricity generation, transmission and distribution |
| Area of operation | Tamil Nadu, India |
| Owner | Government of Tamil Nadu |
| Predecessor | Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB) |
| Subsidiaries | TANGEDCO, TANTRANSCO |
The Tamil Nadu Electricity Board was originally constituted under the Electricity (Supply) Act, 1948, and operated for several decades as the integrated state electricity utility responsible for generation, transmission, and distribution across Tamil Nadu. Following the enactment of the Electricity Act, 2003, Indian states were required to unbundle their vertically integrated electricity boards into separate corporate entities to encourage efficiency, transparency, and reform of the power sector.
As part of the reform process, the Government of Tamil Nadu reorganised the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board into a holding company and two functional subsidiaries:
Under this structure, TNEB Limited holds equity in the two operating subsidiaries, while the day-to-day functions of generating stations, the transmission grid, and consumer-facing distribution are handled by TANGEDCO and TANTRANSCO.
The TNEB group is among the larger state-level power utilities in India, serving domestic, agricultural, commercial, and industrial consumers across Tamil Nadu. Its operations include the running of thermal power stations, participation in hydroelectric generation, procurement of power from central sector and private generators, operation of high-voltage transmission lines and substations, and the management of distribution circles covering both urban and rural Tamil Nadu.
The unbundling of the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board into TNEB Limited and its subsidiaries is regarded as a significant step in aligning the state's power sector with the national reform framework set out in the Electricity Act, 2003. The structure separates policy and ownership oversight from operational responsibilities, with regulatory functions handled by the Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission.