Ahmedabad, March 26 (IANS) Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi slammed the centre for what he termed as its discriminatory policy and demanded immediate allocation of gas to power plants in the state.
He also sought a compensation of Rs.2,800 crore for the "loss suffered by Gujarat in crude royalty".
In a memorandum presented to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during his one-day visit to Gujarat here Saturday, Modi demanded immediate resolution of all the pending issues related to the state. "The centre should put an end to the indifferent attitude towards Gujarat and play a constructive and meaningful role in the development of the state," he added.
The chief minister called on the prime minister at the Circuit House annexe here and submitted a memorandum outlining the major pending issues of Gujarat. He was accompanied by state Finance Minister Vajubhai Vala and Minister of State Saurabh Dalal.
The memorandum sought approved allocation of gas from KG basin to the 702 MW gas-based power plant at Pipavav, Gujarat and a similar one to the 351 MW power plant at Hajira. The former one is under construction, which is likely to be completed in due course.
The central government fixed new reasonable rates for crude royalty for Gujarat and Assam in 2003. But the central government changed the formula without taking Gujarat into confidence in April 2008. As result the state has made a loss of about Rs. 2,800 crore so far which should be compensated, he said.
The memorandum also urged enhanced financial assistance under the Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Program (AIBP), for Narmada command area development under Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP) in an area of 8.73 lakh hectare.
The memorandum also criticized the move by Income Tax Department to issue notice to the Gujarat government seeking details of the MOUs signed during the Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors summit.
The memorandum pointed out that centre's policy to make states responsible for bearing the expenditure of implementing Right to Education act, would burden the state to the tune of Rs.4,300 crore and sought review.