Centre gives in-principle approval to Haripur nuclear power plant in Bengal
New Delhi: The central government on Wednesday said that it had revived the proposal to set up a nuclear power plant in Haripur of West Bengal, which was put on hold due to opposition from the state government and the local farmers of the area. Answering a question in the Lok Sabha, Union minister of state Jitendra Singh on Wednesday informed that the Centre had given in-principle approval for the setting up of a nuclear project in Haripur. He also said that it is being set up in collaboration with Russia. When the TMC MP Sougata Roy tried to point out that the state government neither gave the go-ahead for the controversial project nor had land been allotted for the project, the minister replied, "I am putting on record that it is a project with Russian collaboration and in-principle approval has been given, and it is moving ahead."
In fact, the UPA government had engaged with the Russian government to build a nuclear plant in Haripur of Midnapore district in West Bengal. But due to the opposition from the farmers of that area, which was led by Mamata Banerjee, the UPA government put the proposal on the back-burner. When the NDA government led by Narendra Modi came to power, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had a meeting with the visiting Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin. In the meeting, both the leaders discussed the proposed expansion of a nuclear power project in India, but there was no discussion on Haripur power plant.
Replying to a question, the then spokesperson of the MEA, Syed Akbaruddin, said, "At this stage, understanding is that if it is not possible for various reasons to have a Russian reactor, an alternative site would be considered." He also said in that briefing that because there was previous understanding that there would be two sites, one was Kudankulam and there was another site. He also said that at this stage a final decision on the feasibility or lack of it on Haripur was not finalised. "So, if it does not happen, of course, there are possibilities of an alternative site," he had said. In fact, the government was considering an alternative site in Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh.
Last April, officials of the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) sought a meeting with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to sort out the problem. The local MLA of TMC Suvendu Adhikari at that time said that officials might try to meet the CM, but the people would not allow to set up a nuclear power plant in their area.
