A NUCLEAR plant in Punjab could be on
the cards if chief minister Beant Singh
has his way. Singh has prevailed upon the managing director of
pig the Nuclear Power Corp
(NPC), S K Chatterjee, to
conduct a feasibility
study to locate a nuclear
power plant in the state,
in spite of its proximity
to the border and a
record of political instability.
A survey conducted a decade ago
ruled out the setting up of a nuclear
power plant in the state. There have
been no serious offers to set up thermal
power plants'because of Punjab's distance from coal mines. The state's
power requirement, estimated at about
4,000 mw, is expected to rise to 4,500
mw by 1996-97, according to a 1993
Central Electricity Authority survey.
A degree of peace and stability over
the past two years in Punjab has also
spurred the demand for more power in
the state. Singh is pinning his hopes on
the corporation setting up at least a 500
mw power plant. However, defence analyst Brij Mohan Kaushik of the Institute
for Defence Studies and Analyses in New
Delhi opines, "It would be foolish if NPC
sited its plant in the strategically sensitive state."
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