Gorakhpur (Fatehabad), Jan 13
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday set the ball rolling for the 2800 MW Fatehabad nuclear power project that promises to boost growth and provide job avenues to the people in the state.

The Prime Minister, who laid the foundation stone of the first two units of the Rs 23,502-crore Gorakhpur Haryana Anu Vidyut Pariyojna (GHAVP), congratulated Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda for bringing a project of a national importance to his state.

“The project would prove to be a major milestone in Haryana’s development,” he said. The farmers whose land has acquired for the project have been suitably compensated, said the Prime Minister. “They (farmers) would be paid a handsome annuity for the next 33 years.

Nearly 8,000 to 10,000 people affected by the project would get employment through contractors for the next several years,” said the Prime Minister. The Gorakhpur village would get a new hospital, a stadium equipped with modern facilities, skill development centre, deer park and a herbal park, he said.

The GHAVP would have an indigenously developed pressurised heavy water reactors (PHWRs), said the Prime Minister. He said such reactors were already being set up at Kakrapar in Gujarat and Rawatbhata in Rajasthan. He congratulated the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) as well as the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) for the feat.

The Prime Miniter said the site for the project was selected after carefully considering all aspects, including the environmental impact.

“The nuclear energy is going to play a vital role in India’s pursuit towards economic development, as no single source of electricity was sufficient to meet the country’s future requirements,” said Manmohan Singh.

Allaying safety fears, he said the best safety standards were being maintained at these projects.

To boost growth, the country needs to provide sufficient electricity to industry and agriculture, he said.

Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said the state would get 50% of the electricity produced at Fatehabad plant.

He said when his government came to power in 2005, Haryana had a total generation capacity of 1,587 MW, which has not been raised to 5,300 MW by setting up four new power projects.

Haryana, he said, has the total electricity availability of 10,000 MW and is now a power surplus state.