Thiruvananthapuram: In the midst of Tamil Nadu demanding that the Centre allocate the entire power to be generated by the Kudankulam nuclear plant to it, Kerala has staked claim for 500 MW from the project. In a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has asked the Centre to provide 500 MW from the KNPP located in Tamil Nadu`s Tirunelveli district in view of acute power crisis faced by the state, official sources said today.
With the Kudankulam Nuclear Plant`s first unit of 1,000 MW capacity all set to commence generation, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa had written to Singh on April 25 demanding that the entire power produced be given to it. Refuting reports that Kerala did not want power from Kudankulam, Chandy said a special package has been drawn up to take over land to construct a power transmission line from Kudankulam.
Chandy further said the state was not in a position to draw more power from NTPC`s power plant at Kayamkulam as it was costly. In such a condition, due to acute power crisis, Kerala has asked Centre to provide 500 MW from KNPP, sources, quoting the letter, said. Chandy wanted the Centre to allocate power from KNPP under `unallocated` option, earmarked for states facing power crisis, the sources said.
To overcome power shortage, the state had recently imposed a 30 minute power cut on various categories of consumers. Kerala and Tamil Nadu are already locked in dispute over the Mullaperiyar dam issue. While Tamil Nadu has been maintaining that the 119-year old dam was "absolutely safe" and the water level can be raised to 142 ft, Kerala has been insisting that a new dam be built near the existing structure.