Modi meets PM, discusses problems faced by Gujarat

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SME Times News Bureau | 06 Feb, 2013
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi Wednesday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and apprised him of problems being faced by his state in various areas.

Modi, who met the prime minister for the first time after the December elections last year, said the 45-minute meeting was a good one.

"The prime minister has assured me that he will be providing all necessary help for the people of Gujarat," Modi told reporters after the meeting at the prime minister's 7 Race Course Road residence here.

"It was a good meeting. We spoke for quite a while on various issues," he said.

"I met the prime minister after the formation of the new government. The meeting was very good. We had a long discussion on various issues," he said.

Modi also gave Manmohan Singh a memorandum on issues related to the Sardar Sarovar Dam during the meeting.

A Gujarat government spokesperson said Modi discussed further raising the height of the Sardar Sarovar Dam and sought the prime minister's intervention on permission for construction of spillway piers to full height, bridge and installation of gates at the dam site.

The height of the Sardar Sarovar Dam was raised to 121.92 metres in December 2006, whereas the Full Reservoir Level (FRL) of the dam is 138.68 metres. By raising the FRL the storage capacity will get enhanced to almost three times the present capacity and would facilitate additional irrigation potential of 6.8 lakh hectares and nearly 40 percent additional power generation, the spokesperson quoted Modi as having told the prime minister.

Modi said he also spoke to Manmohan Singh on the issue of differential gas pricing in Mumbai and Gujarat.

"We are having a legal fight with the centre. The gas price in Mumbai and Gujarat was different. We had gone to court and won. But the centre had approached Supreme Court and efforts are being made to delay the implementation of the order."

"The prime minister has assured me that he will look into all these issues himself and try to expedite the decisions," he said.

Later in the day, the Gujarat chief minister is scheduled to deliver a lecture at Delhi University's Shri Ram College of Commerce.

A protest has been planned outside the college Wednesday afternoon against Modi's visit to the university. "Do not legitimise the mastermind of Gujarat genocide in our academic spaces," said an SMS asking students to gather in the North Campus.