Gujral Promises Largesse For Punjab

Centre pledges additional Rs 100cr for Ranjit Sagar dam and assures to pick up the entire tab for the Jalandhar Science CitySanjeev Gaur

The Centre has agreed to give additional funds of Rs 100 crore to Punjab for the early completion of the prestigious Ranjit Sagar Dam. This was decided at a meeting between Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal and Prime Minister I K Gujral in New Delhi on Saturday. Badal was accompanied by state finance minister Kanwaljit Singh at the meeting.

Punjab has already spent Rs 2,427 crore on the Ranjit Singh Dam project, started more than two decades ago, and the state needs another Rs 550 crore to complete the project by the middle of next year.

The project will help the state to generate additional 800 mw of power. The state, at present, is facing a power shortage.

The Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) is in a financial mess. The board is incurring a monthly loss of nearly Rs 50 crore, mainly because of transmission and distribution losses and power theft.

The Akali Dal-BJP government with its decision to give free electricity to the agriculture sector has imposed an additional burden of nearly Rs 800 crore per year.

During the meeting, the Prime Minister also promised the Chief Minister that the Science City project at Jalandhar would be fully funded by the Centre. As per the original proposal, the Punjab government was to contribute 50 per cent in the Rs 120 crore.

The Prime Minister also cleared the 25 km Chandigarh-Morinda railway line project. The project is expected to be functional by April 13, 1999.

It was also decided at the meeting that the Rajasansi Airport at Amritsar would be upgraded to receive international flights from April 13, 1998. The Centre has already decided to upgrade the Amritsar airport as an international airport.

According to the Punjab government sources, the Prime Minister also sanctioned assistance for the construction of a national institute of renewable energy at Jalandhar, Gujrals home town, from where he is most likely to contest the coming Lok Sabha election with Akali support.

The Prime Minister also promised Badal that the Centre would provide financial assistance for the infrastructure development of four major towns of Punjab Malout, Muktsar, Nakodar and Kapurthala. The Prime Minister also assured that the Centre would provide assistance in meeting the problem of water-logging in the southern districts of Punjab.

Water-logging has caused serious damages to the cotton crop in Punjab this year.