By IANS,
Chandigarh : Despite opposing the India-US nuclear deal in July last year, the Akali Dal — now in power in Punjab — has requested the central government to approve a nuclear power plant in the state.
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal Thursday urged union Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde to advise the state-run Nuclear Power Corp of India (NPCI) to explore the possibility of setting up a nuclear power plant in the state.
(Narayan)The Akali Dal, which runs an alliance government in the state with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), had voted against the N-deal signed by the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government with the US in July last year in a trust vote in parliament.
Incidentally, Badal’s request has been made on a day when a high-level delegation of NPCI is visiting neighbouring Haryana to inspect sites for a nuclear power plant in that state. The NPCI team is led by its chairman and managing director S.K. Jain.
Badal said he had already instructed top government officials to coordinate with NPCI for identifying sites for a nuclear plant in Punjab.
“Even we are very keen to have a nuclear power station in Punjab and in pursuance of a letter received from Nuclear Power Corporation of India, we have already initiated the process of selection of a suitable site in the state,” Badal said in his letter.
Punjab had earlier rejected a proposal to set up a nuclear plant in the state.
The chief minister admitted that the state had got delayed in identifying sites for the nuclear plant.
Punjab is a densely populated state and most of the area was under intensive cultivation due to which the whole exercise was taking some time, he added.
“But the state government is very serious in finding a suitable site for setting up of a nuclear power plant in Punjab.”
The Punjab unit of the Congress party had criticised the Akalis for voting against the N-deal under which India would get access to US civilian nuclear technology and fuel.
According to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s government, the deal will help India meet some of its spiralling energy demand.
However, the Akali Dal voted along with its alliance partner BJP against the UPA government in the confidence vote held the July 22, 2008, after the Left parties withdrew their support to the government over the nuclear deal.
NPCI, meanwhile, has initiated the process to set up a 2,800-MW nuclear power project in Haryana, which would be a green project with zero emission plant. The project is expected to cost Rs.12,000 crore.
Haryana has proposed a site between Kumharia and Gorakhpur in Fatehabad district which the NPCI team is visiting Thursday for inspection.
NPCI executive director S. Thakur said about 500 hectares of land will be required to set up the project.
Earlier, proposed area was 1,000 hectares. Thakur assured that NPCI would follow a progressive relief and rehabilitation policy prescribed by the Haryana government for farmers whose land is acquired for the project.