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Union govt to consult Abdul Kalam on Bhadravati project

Union Cabinet Secretary T S R Subramaniam, in consultation with Maharashtra Chief Secretary P Subramaniam and Energy Secretary Ashok Basak, has decided to refer the fate of the Bhadravati power project to Dr A P J Abdul Kalam, who was recently awarded the Bharat Ratna. Kalam is the scientific advisor to the prime minister.

The 1082 mw Bhadravati power project, to be located at Chandrapur was, embroiled in controversy from the word go. The defence ministry has expressed serious concern over the location of the power project and the defence ministry has stated that the project should not be approved under any condition since it was located very close to an armament factory.

The Ispat Group proposed the project to the Maharashtra government in 1993. The state cabinet approved the project in July 1996 and the Maharashtra State Electricity Board signed the agreement with Nippon Denro Ispat in the same month. Even the the 13-day-long Bharatiya Janata Party government approved the project.

However, BJP member of Parliament Banwarilal Purohit opposed the project, and charged BJP leaders, including party general secretary Pramod Mahajan, of indulging in corrupt practices while clearing the agreement. Purohit has not been nominated by the BJP for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.

However, the present Union government took serious note of the matter. In a letter written to Purohit, Additional Secretary in the defence ministry T S Vijayraghavan stated: "We discussed the matter with the directors of the armament factory. The board of directors have informed the Union govt that mining work should not be carried out in the region of 25 kilometres around the factory."

According to a senior official, the Union cabinet secretary and Maharashtra's chief secretary and Energy Secretary decided to seek the advice of Dr Kalam, who is a defence expert. The official said that the Union government will not give the project a go-ahead nor offer a counter-guarantee till all doubts are cleared.

Another controversy surrounds the cost of the coal needed for power production. A committee headed by Housing Development Finance Corporation Chairman Dilip Parikh and former Union secretary R D Khosla has been appointed to look into the matter.

Compiled and translated from the Marathi media by Prasanna Zore