PM dedicates Tala transmission sys to the nation

New Delhi, June 20: Stressing the need to address the challenge on the energy front on a war-footing, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today emphasised that the complacency of the past, be it with respect to conventional or non-conventional sources of power, or nuclear power, must end.

He pointed out that the availability of quality power at affordable cost had emerged as the most important constraint on the pace of our development.

Dedicating the East-North Tala Power Transmission System to the Nation, here, he observed that the people of our country were not going to wait endlessly for us to sort out our administrative, political and theological problems.

Expressing gratitude to the King of Bhutan and the people of that country for their role in the project, the Prime Minister pointed out that the Tala hydro-electric project and the Tala transmission system symbolised our resolve to find new pathways of regional cooperation for sustainable development.

Dr Singh expressed the hope that we can replicate our highly successful, win-win model of bilateral cooperation with Bhutan and Nepal in the power sector.

"Hydro power is clean and renewable. We must tap the energy in our river systems in this region more effectively and efficiently. This can be done to the benefit of all countries in the region. It is a win-win model of cooperation", he added.

Stating that the potential for regional cooperation in South Asia was immense and we have not even scratched the surface, Dr Singh said, "I believe that the best is yet to come and we must all work towards realising this." The Prime Minister expressed the hope that special courts for speedy disposal of power theft cases will be operationalised soon.

Union Power Minister Sushilkumar Shinde, Minister of State in PMO Prithviraj Chavan, Power Secretary Anil Razdan and senior officials of the Power Grid Corporation of India were present on the occasion.

UNI