Kerala CM favours extension of Maniyar contract

Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 22 (PTI) Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday favoured the extension of the Build-Operate-Transfer contract of the Maniyar Small Hydro Electric Project with a private company and said there were no differences of opinion within the government over this.

The CM indicated that it was necessary to continue such contracts considering the investment interests of the state in the industry sector, as Kerala is already holding the top position in terms of “ease of doing business’.

Kerala, ranked number one in the country for ease of doing business, cannot afford to backtrack by denying existing facilities, he said.

The CM was giving a reply in the state Assembly for a submission by senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala against the Left government’s decision to extend the Maniyar contract with Carborundum Universal Limited, a private company.

He said the captive generation units have been allowed in the state with an objective to permit industries to produce power they require on their own, and the Maniyar project is part of that.

While many companies had failed to execute it, the Carborundum company has implemented it effectively, he said, adding that the company has been in the state for a long time.

“The government’s general policy is to continue such captive generation units. There is no dispute about it,” he said.

“There are no contentious issues in this. They produce power according to their requirement. If there is surplus power, they can give that to the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB),” Vijayan said.

The captive generation units are a generally accepted concept, and the government would continue its existing stand over this, he added.

He also rejected the opposition charge that there is a difference of opinion among the industries and the electricity departments over the extension of the Maniyar contract.

There is also no need for differences between the ruling and opposition on the matter, he said.

However, Chennithala, in his submission, vehemently criticised the government decision to extend the contract, saying that it was against the interests of the state.

The extension of the Maniyar contract would adversely impact similar hydropower projects under the BOT contract, he claimed.