Stalin pushes TN's case on power front at NDC meet

Faced with a shortfall of 3,000MW of power, Tamil Nadu on Saturday requested the Centre for an early approval of coal linkage for its power projects in the pipeline and also for early commissioning of the Kudankulam nuclear power plant which would provide 960MW of additional power to the state.



"Tamil Nadu's average power demand is 11,000MW and the availability is 8,000MW. Projects in the pipeline are expected to create around 6,500MW of additional installed capacity by 2010-11," deputy chief minister MK Stalin, who represented chief minister M Karunanidhi, told the National Development Council meeting in New Delhi.
Requesting a substantial funding to the state's projects for linking intra-state rivers, he also urged the Union government to initiate talks with state governments, particularly the southern states, for inter-linking of rivers to make effective use of water for irrigation and drinking purposes.
Stating that Tamil Nadu was in a unique position to implement innovative schemes to substantially increase carbon absorbing capacity of forests to mitigate global warming, he said the Centre should release liberal funding for such projects of the state out of the Rs 5,000 crore earmarked for implementation of environmental protection programmes. He also sought funds to construct new link roads for habitations with a population of more than 250 and to upgrade existing village roads.
Pointing out that different states in the country are at different stages of development and each has varied needs, Stalin stressed that the Central schemes should be flexible to enable state governments to modify them to suit local needs.
He also said the proposal to discontinue tax incentives to special economic zones in the revised Direct Tax Code (DTC) was causing concern among developers and prospective investors. "We are of the opinion that concession already formulated under SEZ policy should be continued and amendments proposed in the revised DTC needs to be modified," he said.
Stressing the need to strengthen coastal security, Stalin said the shallow water security should be the responsibility of the Centre just like safety of land border areas protected by the Border Security Force.