Unallocated power to State ruled out

More power can be given after integrating southern grid with national: Moily

Union Minister for Power and Corporate Affairs Veerappa Moily has ruled out the possibility of giving unallocated power from the Central grid to Karnataka as all southern states have been facing an acute power problem.

Speaking to reporters here on Saturday, Moily said it was not possible for the Centre to give additional power to the power-starved State as the southern grid had remained unconnected to the national grid. “After integrating the southern grid with the national grid, we will be able to give more power to the State.”

The power minister said efforts were on to integrate the southern power grid with the national grid by January 2014. Infrastructure, including big master unit stations, was yet to be built in several places.

Moreover, barring Kaiga nuclear power plant, Karnataka did not have any Central power generating station and it was very recently that the foundation stone was laid for the 4000-MW super thermal power plant, a Central power unit, at Kudagi in Bijapur district, he said.

Moily, who earlier held the law portfolio, said a proposal had been finalised for converting the two High Court circuit benches in Gulbarga and Hubli-Dharwad into permanent benches and it would have to be cleared by the Central cabinet. Replying to a question on BJP’s demand for the resignation of prime minister Manmohan Singh in the wake of the CAG report on massive irregularities in allocation of coal blocks, Moily said there was
absolutely no need for anyone to resign as no actual loss whatsoever had taken place.

“The BJP has intellectually gone bankrupt. There is an opportunity to debate the entire issue in parliament. By relying only on the audit report, the BJP is undermining the sovereignity of Parliament,” Moily said.

‘No waiver of bank farm loans’

Moily rejected the State’s demand for waiving agriculture loans availed from commercial banks in the wake of the drought. He said it was not possible to waive the loans as it would badly affect the banks’ financial discipline. “The UPA government has, in the past, waived loans to the tune of Rs 76,000 crore, but it is not possible now. If the loans are written off, the banks will be in trouble.”

Criticising the State government’s decision to waive agriculture loans given to farmers by cooperative banks and institutions, Moily said this would render the cooperative institutions weak as the State does not make good the losses suffered by them.

Moily earlier inaugurated the renovated regional office building of the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation constructed at a cost of Rs.1.4 crore. Union Labour and Employment Minister Mallikarjuna Kharge presided over the programme.