Narendra Modi takes gas war to PM

Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi met prime minister Manmohan Singh at his residence in New Delhi on Wednesday, and submitted a memorandum. It was his first meeting with Singh after taking charge as the CM for the fourth time.

During the visit that lasted 45 minutes, Modi sought the PM’s intervention to resolve a large number of issues related to Gujarat, which have been pending with the Union government for long.

The CM raised the issue of increasing the height of Sardar Sarovar dam to 138.68 metres.

He urged Singh to intervene regarding permission for construction of spillway piers to full height and installation of gates at the dam site.

Modi also expressed his concern regarding gas price, which is higher in Gujarat than in Delhi and Mumbai.
Referring to the Union government’s “anti–farmer policy,” the CM said that regulation of price of BT cotton seeds adversely affected the farmers in Gujarat.

Modi also referred to the flip-flop regarding cotton exports, besides the non-payment of royalty on crude oil as per statutory provisions and coal allocation to Gujarat from the mines of Western Coal Fields for power generation. The CM pressed for complete waiver of customs duty in the ship-breaking industry.

The Gujarat CM said that most of these issues not only adversely affected the economic growth and development of the state, but also caused immense hardship to the common people, especially farmers and marginalised sections of the
society.

Congratulating the CM on his new term, Singh assured him that he would look into the issues raised during the meeting.