Ministers assurance on Cheemeni project

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala will not lose the Cheemeni power project, Union Minister of State for Power KC Venugopal said here on Friday.Addressing a press conference, Venugopal said that that MoEF had merely pointed out certain drawbacks in the project, but had not rejected it.  The minister’s assurance comes in the wake of the Expert Appraisal Committee of the MoEF deferring the 1200-MW LNG-fuelled project stating that the project was premature.The committee also noted, in a September 12 meeting, that Kerala had not signed an MoU with the gas supplier. Besides, the project proposal should incorporate the recommendations of the Prof Madhav Gadgil Committee on Western Ghats, the committee had noted.Power Minister Aryadan Mohammed, who was also present, said that Kerala had started receiving more power from Talcher.The Centre has also cleared a proposal to step up the capacity of the LNG terminal in Kochi to 15 million metric tonnes per annum (MMTPA) from 5 MMTPA.