TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: The Union Ministry for Coal and Power has agreed to allocate the coal block to Goa, provided the State entity generates the power from it, without engaging any private partner, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar said, announcing plans to partner with Union government’s National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC).
Chief Minister, who just ended his four-day visit to New Delhi, said that he had submitted a Rs 1,500 crore infrastructural development proposal to the Union government, which was in principle cleared, and also said that the Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh had assured him that he would find a solution on the dual citizenship issue within the next 60 days.
Speaking to media on Saturday, Parrikar said that during his New Delhi visit, he met with Union Minister for Coal and Power Piyush Goyal, who has agreed to allocate the coal block to Goa, provided the State generated power on its own without any joint venture with a private party. “We have decided to go for a joint venture with Government of India, NTPC, which is exploring the possibility of generating power for the State from the coal block,” he said.
On September 24, Supreme Court had cancelled allocation of 214 coal block leases, including a lease belonging to Goa government in Chhattisgarh.
The coal block was allotted to Goa by the Centre on November 12, 2008.
The Goa Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) had signed a lease agreement for generation of power with a private entity – KSK Mahanadi Power Company, according to which Goa was due to get 270 MW or 15% pa with an option of another 180 MW or 10% of the generation, while the Chhattisgarh government would have got 37.5 MW, since the coal block is located there. The total availability of power from the coal block would be 450 MW.
Meanwhile, the State government has urged the Union Power Minister to allocate additional power from the Western grid at Kaiga, rather than from Ramagundam. “The power from Kaiga would be uninterrupted. The current allocation to the State from Ramagundam is 100MW, while State receives power between 60 to 70MW,” Parrikar said.
The Union Ministry is also identifying surplus power for Goa, which would be identified and allocated by December, he said.
The Chief Minister, who was on four-day visit to New Delhi, has also submitted Rs 1500 crore infrastructural development proposals to the Union government, which are expected to be cleared early next year. Parrikar also said that Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has assured to work out a solution on the vexed dual citizenship issue within the next 60 days.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has in principle agreed to provide financial package to Goa to compensate for revenue loss caused due to closure of mining operations, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar informed the media.
The chief minister said that a formal proposal seeking financial package would be given to the Union government soon. “We can’t disclose how much assistance would be sought from the Centre. We will inform you once the formal request is sent to the Prime minister,” Parrikar said.
“The Union government cannot just give the package. They will have to find a methodology for it and we have discussed about it. In principle he (Modi) has agreed to give the package. He has asked us to send the details,” the chief minister said.
The State government had claimed revenue to the tune of Rs 3,000 crore was lost due to closure of mining operations.
