We Are Not for Destabilisation, We Only Want to Stop Nuclear Deal, Says Yechury

The Hindu
Apr 2, 2008

Coimbatore: The objective of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) is only to stop the Indo-U.S. nuclear deal and not to destabilise the government. If the government goes ahead with the deal leading to destabilisation, it will not be because of the CPI(M), Polit Bureau member Sitaram Yechury said on Tuesday. Addressing the Coimbatore Bar Association here, he said the deal in all respects — pretext, context and text-wise — was not only dangerous but also unacceptable and untenable…Referring to the Prime Minister’s statement that the country required an additional 40,000 MW and his hope that this demand would be met through nuclear reactors, Mr. Yechury said that for generating 30,000 MWe, the country should import nuclear reactors and the cost of production, at Rs. 11 crore per MWe, would be Rs. 3,30,000 crore. In comparison, the cost of hydro electric generation and natural gas per mega watt would be Rs. 3 crore, while thermal power through coal resources would cost Rs. 4 crore. Generation of power through these indigenous resources (leave alone solar and wind energy) would cost Rs. 90,000 crore-Rs. 1,20,000 crore. Rather than spending Rs. 3.30,000 crore on nuclear power, the money saved could be spent on health and education.