Stoppage of Central funds irks CM

Kolkata: Expressing her displeasure at the Centre’s stopping of fund allocation for Rooftop Solar project chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday indicated at stalling the project in Bengal. The Centre has been allocating 30 per cent subsidy for the rooftop solar project but had stopped it recently.

The chief minister on the sidelines of the oath-taking ceremony programme at Raj Bhavan asked state power minister Sovondeb Chattopadhyay about the outcome of the recent power ministers’ conference in New Delhi and was informed of the Centre’s decision of stopping funds. Following this an angry chief minister told Mr Chattopadhyay that if Centre stops their fund share in the project then the state will not be able to continue with it.

Mr Chattopadhyay on the sidelines of the power ministers’ two day conference in New Delhi on May 3 and 4 had directly spoken with Union power minister Piyush Goyal regarding the Central allocation and the state’s difficulty to go on with the project without it. However, Mr Goyal had made it clear that the Centre will not be able to allocate funds at the present juncture and urged the state to continue it on its own.

“I will submit a detailed status report to the chief minister in a few days and she will take the final call,” Mr Chattopadhyay said.

A top official of the power department however pointed out that the Centre has stopped funds for the project before May 2016, when Mr Chattopadhyay had taken over as the power minister. The power department had written to the Centre in this regard but to no avail.

“The Centre has been discriminating in allocation of funds among the states with the BJP-ruled states getting good share while states like Bengal are being deprived. This has angered the chief minister,” the official said.