To conserve energy. the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board has introduced a range of distribution transformers called Amorphous Metal-core Distribution Transformers (AMDT). These transformers could reduce the "noload po"wer loss", or idling loss to 60 watts (w) as compared to 260 w by a conventional transformer. Says Tamil Nadu's minister for electricity and public works, S Kannappan, "if all distribution transformers could be replaced by AMDTs, the state would save al@out [2] Rs 34 crore annually." Adds MA Azeez, director (technical), Rural Electrification Corp (REQ, "The transformer replacement programme is part of a Union government's experimental scheme. REC is providing a grant to the states to meet the difference in cost between the old and new transformers."