Indian PM expects Tamil Nadu Chief's support for nuke project

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has cautioned Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa that the state’s development plans would be hit in absence of power.

The Prime Minister also said that he looked forward to Jayalalithaa’s continuing support for the Kudankulam project in Tamil Nadu. In a letter to the Chief Minister, Singh apprised her of his meeting with an all-party delegation from the state last week during which demands for stoppage of work on the 2,000 Mw Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project, being built in collaboration with Russia, were made.

“Apart from the safety and livelihood aspects, where the Government and the people are on the same side, I also took the opportunity to mention that Tamil Nadu is one of the most industrialised states of the country whose power requirements are growing constantly,” he said.

“Of the 2000 Mw power to be generated by Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project Units 1 and 2, the allocation of power to Tamil Nadu is 925 Mw. In case the prospects of availability of this power are suddenly withdrawn this would impact on the state’s development and industrialisation plans,” Singh said in the letter.

The Prime Minister’s letter comes in the backdrop of protestors’ plans of intensifying the agitation by launching an indefinite fast to press their demand for scrapping the Indo-Russian project. Singh said that his Government will not compromise on safety in the pursuit of the nuclear energy programme, be it is in terms of technology, regulation, skilled manpower or emergency preparedness.