Jamshedpur, March 24: The Uranium Corporation of India (UCIL) is caught in the crossfire between the Centre and state government.

If sources are to be believed, the state government has stalled the granting of land lease and further mining of uranium to the PSU.

The state government has also set up a two-member team to probe whether the UCIL has engaged in ?illegal mining? in areas not under their jurisdiction. The decision was prompted by the Centre?s alleged apathy for the past two years over aiding the state to come up with its first nuclear power reactor plant.

By stalling the grant, the state government wants to send a strong message to the Centre. Officials add that previous NDA regime had approved of the state?s plan of a 100 MW nuclear power station. They had also agreed to fund the project which is estimated to cost around Rs 400 crore.

At a cabinet decision yesterday, the state government set up a probe team to ascertain whether UCIL has engaged in illegal mining in 1128 acres of land where the state government is yet to grant them land lease.

Government sources said chief minister Arjun Munda was ?unhappy? with the Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NCPI), under the department of atomic energy (DAE). DAE, directly under control of the Prime Minister, had not taken any active interest in setting up projects in the state even after constant perusals in the past.

Earlier, Munda had sent a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seeking his intervention in the matter. In the letter, Munda reminded Singh that the uranium that is being used in the 12 nuclear power reactors across the country, come form Jadugoda in East Singhbhum.

?So if uranium of the state can be used for such projects in other parts of the country, there is no reason why such a plant cannot take shape in East Singhbhum where there would be no further transportation cost involved,? government officials said.

Earlier, according to the directives of NPCI, the East Singhbhum district administration had shortlisted three sites in Ghatshila sub division, for the project and had sent details of these sites to NPCI.

?The NPCI did not take any interest in the project,? sources said.

The UCIL sources termed the allegations as ?baseless?.