Jamshedpur/New Delhi, June 21: Union tourism minister Subodh Kant Sahay today hit out at the state government for dithering over land that cost Jharkhand a hydel power plant, attacking Arjun Munda in his home turf and forcing the chief minister to defend his coalition from Delhi.

In the steel fortress to campaign for the July 1 Jamshedpur Lok Sabha by-election, Sahay claimed that Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) had been compelled to move its proposed 1,200MW hydel power plant project at Jhumri Tilaiya in Koderma to Bengal because of the “lackadaisical approach” of the Arjun Munda-led government in allotting land.

He even ridiculed the state government for not being able to allot 5 acres of land to DVC to shift its headquarters to Ranchi from Calcutta.

Setting the stage for a no-holds-barred campaign for the coveted Lok Sabha seat — vacated by Munda after he was elected to the state Assembly from Kharsawan — the chief minister refuted the Union minister’s allegations, highlighting other issues, such as non-availability of water, as the reason behind the PSU’s move.

“The water of the Tilaiya Dam had already been allotted for the Centre’s 4,000MW ultra mega power project. DVC is asking for the same water. I asked them to have the project some place where water is available,” Munda, who returned from the US today, said in Delhi.

Hitting back at Sahay, Munda said: “The credit for playing politics over the development of the state goes to him. DVC isn’t serving us anyway. Their power is too costly. They ignore the fact that we have 33 per cent stake in DVC. There are no lacunae with the state.”

A DVC official corroborated Munda’s claim, saying the Jharkhand government couldn’t be blamed. “A 4,000MW ultra mega power plant is also coming up at Koderma. Based on the recommendations of the DVC river reservoir committee, we decided that water at Tilaiya dam would not be sufficient for both projects. Therefore, we decided to shift the project to Bengal,” DVC secretary Umesh Kumar told The Telegraph over telephone from Calcutta.

On shifting the PSU’s headquarters, joint director personnel and acting resident director of DVC (Jharkhand project) Sylvanus Beck said he was optimistic.

“The Jharkhand government has assured us 2 acres each for DVC headquarters and RBI office and a DPR was prepared during Governor’s Rule in 2009 under Syed Sibtey Razi.”

Jharkhand has often complained about DVC and Coal India paying their taxes in Calcutta, where their head offices are located, thereby denying the state its share of revenues. And now the BJP is determined to make the project’s proposed shift to Bengal a political issue.

Sahay and Munda — he is set to camp in Jamshedpur from tomorrow — have already upped the ante. There will be a lot more of that in the coming days as campaigning picks up in Jamshedpur.

Today, Sahay also raked up several other land related issues, targeting the state government for forcing new educational institutions like a central university and IIM to function out of temporary campuses.

“The state government's dilly dallying on land acquisition has proved to be an obstacle in Jharkhand becoming a major educational hub as it has failed to give land for Maulana Azad National University and Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ranchi,” the Union minister, who is also Ranchi MP, said.

Further questioning the government seriousness towards development issues, Sahay said a mega food park project had failed to take off even after three years. “I had given this project to Jharkhand during my tenure as Union food processing minister but the government is yet to provide land for this project too,” he said.

The Union minister alleged the government’s slow pace of work was hampering development plans of local urban bodies in Ranchi, Dhanbad, Jamshedpur and Bokaro who could not make use of projects worth Rs 10,000 crore under JNNURM.

“The government is unable to use 40 per cent of central funds and still cries for more funds. This shows the superficial approach of the Arjun Munda government towards serious issues,” said Sahay.