Chennai: Three days after the Tamil Nadu Government gave in-principle approval to join the Uday scheme, the state cabinet on Monday discussed the issue threadbare and its demands besides the sensitive Cauvery issue.
The Cabinet meeting, the second after Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa was hospitalised and chaired by Finance Minister O Panneerselvam, also discussed the Union Government’s New Education Policy and the state government’s response to it.
The AIADMK government had announced in the State Assembly that it would oppose imposition of Sanskrit in the state.
Sources said the State Cabinet discussed in detail the Centre’s proposal on Uday schemes and how the state government can accept them.
According to informed sources, the Centre has agreed to do away with condition of the quarterly revision of power tariff.
The state government wants the centre to relax FRBM norms for the entire bond tenure of 15 years, state should be authorised to float 15 years bond with five year moratorium and Commercial Banks should provide 50 per cent cash loss financing for the next five years as some cash losses of the DISCOMs will persist during the initial period.
Sources say the Centre has agreed to all the conditions except for relaxing FRBM norms. The breakthrough was achieved on Friday after Electricity Minister P. Thangamani met Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal in New Delhi.
One of the main agenda of the hour-long meeting was the vexed Cauvery issue on which the state government is fighting a legal battle in the Supreme Court, sources said. Tamil Nadu government has been demanding constitution of Cauvery Management Board to ensure that the final verdict of the Cauvery Water Disputes Terminal (CWDT) is implemented in letter and spirit.
