Modhwadia flays Modi for making allegation against Union Govt

Ahmedabad, Dec 19 (UNI) Leader of Opposition in the Gujarat Legislative Assembly Arjun Modhwadia today criticised Chief Minister Narendra Modi for alleging that the Union Government had pocketed Rs 500 crore by way of cess from the ports in the state.

Mr Modhwadia said when the Centre began collecting a cess of five paise per kg of cargo traffic from major and medium ports like Kandla, Mumbai, Kolkata, Vishakhapatanam and Cochin, the revenue thus raised would be spent on the development of ports along the coast lines of the regions including Gujarat.

Gujarat has the major share of coastal belt of 1600 km out of total 6,500 km long coastal area of the country. Therefore, by implementation of the project, Gujarat would be the major beneficiary, he said in a release here.

When a scheme is yet to be implemented, Mr Modi had alleged that the Union Government had pocketed Rs 500 crore by way of cess from the ports of Gujarat. In fact, the Jakhau Fisheries Port, which he dedicated to the fishermen yesterday, was funded fully by the Centre, the Leader of Opposition said.

The Chief Minister had announced the 'Sujalam-Sufalam Project' at a huge investment of Rs 6,500 crore during 2004 Parliamentary elections so as to capture the votes of farmers and he also announced that the project would be implemented within three years time.

Mr Modi had said that the NDA Government had agreed in-principle to extend financial assistance for this project even though the state government had not made any presentations before the NDA Government or Planning Commission.

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