Tamil Nadu CM Jayalalithaa told Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal that a team comprising state power minister and top officials would visit Delhi to hold detailed discussions with him over 'Ujjwal Discom Assurance Yojana' scheme .
Days after asserting that joining the Uday (Ujjwal Discom Assurance Yojana) scheme could help the Tamil Nadu government, Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday called on Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa at the Secretariat and held discussions over it.
Jayalalithaa told Goyal that a Tamil Nadu team comprising state power minister and top officials would visit Delhi to hold detailed discussions with him over the issue. Top officials including Chief Secretary, Additional Chief Secretary (Finance), CMD, Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation Ltd (TANGEDCO) would be part of the team.
The meeting between the two is the first after several claims and counter-claims over the past several months with regard to Uday between the State and Union governments over the Centre's debt restructuring scheme for state discoms. Also, today's meeting comes months after Goyal's "Jaya is inaccessible" remark ahead of the May 16 Assembly election which was vehemently countered by AIADMK leaders and Tamil Nadu Ministers.
On the meeting, an official release here said, the Chief Minister told Goyal that she had already requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi in her letter of October 2015 to consider the state's request to ensure that Tamil Nadu finances are not adversely affected while taking over TANGEDCO's debt. Such points were also reiterated in the memorandum given by her to PM Modi last month, the release said.
The Chief Minister requested that the government of India should consider the request of Tamil Nadu government "positively" over the Uday scheme. She also requested Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) and Power Finance Corporation (PFC), Central PSUs to provide loans for revenue and capital expenditure, and also for new power projects proposed by the state.
On July 11, Goyal had said in Delhi that Centre will not be in a position to accede to the state's demand for special concessions to join Uday. Conditions that Tamil Nadu had indicated for taking up Uday include writing off 50 per cent outstanding debt of Rs 68,000 crore, he had said, adding, Tamil Nadu was the only State to have sought such concessions. The Centre had extended till next year the date for joining Uday.
The tug of war over Uday vis-a-vis Tamil Nadu is on for many months. It gained momentum in March this year in the run up to the May 16 Assembly polls.
After Goyal blamed the state for not showing interest in joining the scheme during the poll campaign, Jayalalithaa on April 11 said that Uday will benefit only private power-generating companies and banks and not the people of Tamil Nadu. It was contested by Goyal in an election rally in Tiruchirappalli who had said "not a single provision of Uday will (adversely) affect Tamil Nadu."
Targeting Jayalalithaa, Goyal had said early this year, "It (TN) is a state within a state. It is part of the country where I can't even reach out to the Chief Minister. I have made several attempts to talk to their leaders without success", adding that Tamil Nadu had not signed a pact for a power reforms initiative of the Centre 'Uday' ("Ujjwal Discom Assurance Yojana").
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "Jayalalithaa")
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}