Standing its ground over the scrapping of Udangudi power project, the AIADMK government on Tuesday squarely blamed the DMK and the two bidders for the delay in implementing the project and rejected the demand of Opposition parties to order a probe.
Replying to a special call attention motion brought by opposition parties in the House, Electricity Minister Natham R. Viswanathan said it was the DMK which failed to get necessary clearances for the project for over four years.
“After announcing the scheme in 2007, why did you not allot the land for the project? You did not get the coal linkage from Centre despite being part of it, did not get the environment clearance till you were in power,” Mr. Viswanathan told the DMK members.
The Minister held the DMK responsible for the delay, despite being interrupted by DMK members, who were not allowed to speak by Speaker P. Dhanapal on the issue. “There shall be no clarification when the Minister is replying to a call attention motion,” he said.
Tearing into the Left parties for demanding a CBI probe into the incident, Mr. Viswanathan said it was a CPI(M) member who requested the government through a letter to give the project to the PSU bidder, which would benefit the government. “You requested that the bidder be given the project and now you are demanding a CBI probe. The government followed all rules while finalising the project,” he said.
Consultant’s report
The decision to cancel the tender process for the project was based on a consultant’s report, which found infirmities in the price bids given by both bidders, the Minister said.
When he contending that it was the DMK which purchased power for higher tariff from private companies, Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam intervened and asked the DMK members to wait for the Minister’s reply and not stage a walkout.
Earlier, DMK, the Left parties, PMK and MMK brought up the issue as a special call attention, which was taken up by the Speaker. DMK floor leader M.K. Stalin said the project, which was to be implemented jointly by the State government and the Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), was delayed and the tender was cancelled eventually.
Demand for White Paper
CPI (M) member K. Thangavelu said though the project was initially planned to generate 1,600 MW, it was reduced to 660 MW of two units and sought a White Paper report on the reasons behind the delay.
CPI’s M. Arumugham, PMK’s A. Ganeshkumar and MMK’s M.H. Jawahirullah also demanded a reply from the government on the issue.
