Transmission plan for N-power okayed

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) today approved a proposal by the Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd for a Rs 500-crore transmission system for evacuating electricity from the Rajasthan Atomic Power Project (5 and 6).

The cost of the project includes an Interest During Construction (IDC) component of Rs 22.38 crore. The transmission system will include a 198-km line from the power project to Kankroli and another 400 KV line spread over 62 km connecting the plant to Kota, both in Rajasthan.

"The transmission system will be completed within 33 months and the beneficiary states include Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal and Delhi," Finance Minister P Chidambaram told reporters after the meeting.

The Cabinet, which also met today, cleared the introduction of a Bill to amend a law to provide immunity to airlines to disembark passengers without valid entry documents in the country. The amendment to the Immigration (Carriers' Liability) Act 2000 will empower the Centre to exempt a certain category of people.

The Cabinet also approved an agreement between the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Agenzia Spaxiale Itaaliana of Italy.

This agreement is on cooperation in space sciences, technology and application. The agreement was signed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the President of Italy on February 14, 2005.

It also approved an agreement between India and Croatia in health care and medicine. "The bilateral agreement will encourage cooperation between India and Croatia in the field of health and medicine on the basis of equality, reciprocity and mutual benefit," said Chidambaram.

In another decision, the Cabinet gave a further extension of three months from June 4 to the High Level Committee headed by retired Supreme Court judge UC Bannerjee probing the Godhra incident.