Jayalalithaa claimed that it was he who had implemented the scheme as an energy saving measure when she was the CM of the state and most of the pump sets given by her government had become unusable now due to power cuts in the state.

Jaya said, "By announcing the scheme, Karunanidhi has candidly admitted that the power situation in the state is not good". Mr. Karunanidhi had said in his independence Day address that a substantial number of pump sets used by the farmers across the state were consuming more electricity and hence they would be replaced with new energy-efficient sets free of cost for small and marginal farmers.