Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Minister for consensus on Chinese projects

Special Correspondent

Power Minister A.K. Balan

Thiruvananthapuram: Electricity and Scheduled Castes and Tribes Welfare Minister A.K. Balan on Wednesday said that the Government would try to bring about a consensus with the Opposition on implementing 14 small hydel projects with Chinese participation.

Replying to the debate on demands of grants for his departments, Mr. Balan said that the Government was not averse to a global tender for the 14 small hydel projects. The Government decided to extend the term of the memorandum of understanding signed with the Chinese company which executed four projects in the State.

He said the four projects were completed during the UDF rule. The Government did not consider the global tender option because the project came along with Chinese technology and the Chinese promoter would not agree to participate in such a process.

Opposition members repeatedly asked the Minister whether he would assure the Assembly that he would go in for the open tender route on this project. It was at this juncture that Mr. Balan said he did not want to take up any project that would turn out to be controversial.

The Minister said that the Government decided to bring small scale industries and low tension consumers within the purview of the scheme relating to the payment of minimum demand charge for closed units. The existing scheme would be extended by another six months. He said the Government was examining the prospects of increasing tariff rate for power intensive units.

Mr. Balan said the Government had cleared the tenders for high tension underground cable system in Thiruvananthapuram (Rs.122.39 crore), Ernakulam (Rs.115.10 crore) and Kozhikode (Rs.66.48 crore).

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