On a day when the State unit of the Congress made noises about pressing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to allocate the full quantum that the 1,000 MW Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant’s (KKNPP) Unit-I is expected to generate, to Tamil Nadu, the PMO dropped hints of what it actually had in mind on the issue.
Union Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office, V Narayanasamy, indicated that Tamil Nadu could at best expect 765 MW from Unit-I. Speaking to reporters at Tirunelveli, he offered a rough break-up of the power sharing formula.
Tamil Nadu, he said, is entitled to get 465 MW from Unit-1 and Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh about 235 MW. That would leave 300 MW, which is meant for the Central grid. The Centre is looking at the possibility of allocating the entire Central share of 300 MW to Tamil Nadu, he said. It’s up to the PM to take the final call, he added. In other words, 765 MW (465 + 300 MW).
In Chennai, Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) president B S Gnanadesikan said a delegation of party MPs is likely to call on the PM seeking the entire output of 1,000 MW from Unit-I for the State.
“We will meet Union Power Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Tuesday with the same demand. We are optimistic about the response,” he added.
Narayanasamy said there shall be no compromise on safety at the plant, while keeping up the foreign hand chant on ‘false propaganda’ against it.