The Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB) and NTPC have been at loggerheads for a long time on the sharing of power from the Cheyyur project with the former insisting that full power generated from this project should be given to the state grid while NTPC refused to toe the state government line.

It is learnt that the state has now agreed to accept the quantity NTPC is willing to give viz 30 per cent from the Cheyyur project, the normal share allotted to the state. NTPC is expected to take the balance power to the central grid for transmission to other southern states.

At one stage the state and TNEB had even threatened to hold back allotment of land and cancel the permission to the NTPCproject which was originally planned for a capacity of 2,000 mw. NTPC, however, stuck to its position, but it has also scaled down the project size to 1,000 mw and is acquiring close to 4,000 acres of land at Cheyyur.

But for the state government, the problems are far from over. It has written to the centre seeking environment clearance for the project. It is also asking for relaxations in the coastal regulation zone (CRZ) norms.

An independent power producer (IPP) source said the state wants conversion of CRZ 1 to CRZ 3 to allow power projects to be set up in coastal areas of the state. The state government, the source said, has hired the chief hydrographer from Dehradun to study the high-tide and low-tide line markings and give a report so that the ministry of environment and forests can be persuaded to give concessions on CRZ norms.

The state government wants the entire southern Tuticorin area and other coastal areas to be recategorised as CRZ 3 from CRZ 1. CRZ 1 says an industrial unit cannot be setup within 14 kilometers of the coastal area while CRZ 3 stipulates that industrial units can be located only 500 metres away from the high tide line.

The environment ministry is strict on state governments following CRZ norms for setting up power projects because of worries about environmental pollution and degradation.

The state is keen to get some relaxation of the CRZ provisions as besides power projects a lot of tourism, hotels and housing projects promoters are showing interest in setting up their projects in southern Tuticorin and other coastal areas of the state.

A TNEB source disclosed that the state government feels that the high tide line fixed by remote sensing by satellites in Cheyyur area is too much on the interior, and the land for the power project far away from the 500 metres high tide line limit prescribed for setting up units. It has in turn informed the central government accordingly.