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Karnataka to allow panel to resolve Cogentrix issue

Karnataka Chief Minister S M Krishna today said the Union Cabinet's clearance of counter-guarantee to the $ 1.3 billion Mangalore power project, promoted by US multinational Cogentrix, was on the expected lines.

Talking to newsmen in Bangalore, he said the state would need to go into the counter-guarantee to ensure whether the escrow cover was also included in it.

Krishna did not react further but said the Deepak Parekh Committee asked to go into the escrow cover would submit its report in a month's time.

Only then can the state take any decision, he said. The terms of reference for the committee would be decided within the next three days, he added.

The Mangalore Power Company, promoted by Cogentrix and Hong Kong- based China Light and Power had on December 9 announced ceasing of operations pertaining to the 1000 mega-watt power project, pending for over seven-and-a-half years.

Promoted as one of the eight fast-track projects, the MPC, according to sources, suffered inordinate delay in government clearances besides, litigations and erosion in financial aspects due to the delay.

The company, however, was cleared of graft charge by the Supreme Court on December 12. Three days later, company managing director Ron Somers indicated that he would recommend continuation of the project to the promoters only if the national government gave the counter-guarantee and the state government accepted the Power Purchase Agreement signed in 1997.

Medha Patkar offers to fight against Mangalore project

Meanwhile, noted environmentalist Medha Patkar today said she would launch an agitation against the project, if invited by the Jana Jagruthi, which is spearheading a campaign.

She said that the Cogentrix withdrawal from the project was a gimmick and both the national and Karnataka governments had played into its hands.

Patkar called for a movement to promote the human cause and against the World Bank and the multinational companies, which conceived and implemented projects for their benefit, regardless of their impact on human lives.

Patkar alleged that the country's natural resources were not not considered as capital while planning a project.

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Karnataka