Announcing this here on Friday, chief minister JH Patel, who also holds the power portfolio, said the regulatory authority was a necessity as the World Bank had made a pre-condition of linking reforms in power sector to loans whenever financial assistance was sought by the state. "The World Bank president had mentioned this to me during his visit to Bangalore last year when we made a plea for assistance of around Rs 1,000 crore. Subsequently the Union government had also advised us to set up such a commission.''

Patel, however, did not stipulate when the authority would be constituted as it needs a formal approval from the legislature. The state law minister MC Nanaiah expressed the view that the bills pertaining to the power regulatory authority and private sector participation in transmission and distribution network projects would be introduced during the forthcoming legislature session in November. He added that the state had already reached an understanding with a British firm for distribution of power.

The chief minister also announced that the Karnataka Electricity Board (KEB) would be restructured. ``We are working out the modalities on how it should be revamped. Whatever be the measures, the interests of the existing workers will be fully protected. The modalities will be arrived at in the next two-three months,'' he added.

Patel also said that he has instructed his senior ministers to travel to the Cauvery Basin districts to dispel doubts among people on the creation of the Cauvery River Authority. ``I have asked my ministers to travel to all the villages in Mandya, Mysore and Hassan and reassure the people there, particularly the farmers, that the accord would in no way affect their interests. There are some political parties who want to provoke people on this issue. I am sure that they will not succeed in their plans.''

The chief minister also had a dig at the opposition parties who were against the Cauvery accord by saying, ``Again and again somebody in Chennai reacts and it is reciprocated in Bangalore as if they were counterparts. It is basically those who have nothing to do who are indulging in dharnas and satyagrahas.'' He added that the Cauvery dispute could only be resolved by consultation and not by legal method or adjudication by the tribunal.

The President, K R Narayanan has given his assent to the Mysore Palace Acquisition Bill forwarded by the state government to acquire the Mysore Palace owned by the royal family scion Srikantadutta Narasimharaj Wodeyar. The bill envisages appointment of a committee to manage the palace and its surrounding land. It also envisaged payment of compensation to the scion of the royal family and permission to stay in a building adjacent to the palace, if he desired to live inside the palace vicinity, said Nanaiah The chief minister said that his forthcoming visit to France, Sweden, Switzerland and Denmark would bring in additional investments of around Rs 250 crore. ``Though I have targeted an investment of Rs 1,000 crore, I will be happy if I can manage at least 25 per cent of it.'' Besides talks with the various chambers of commerce, the state government would also seek investments in new areas like food processing, bio-technology and agriculture.

In a veiled attack on reports that the state is facing an exodus of IT investments, Patel said ``our competition is with France, US, UK and Japan and not from Andhra Pradesh.''