Bhubaneswar, April 11: Chief minister Naveen Patnaik today met two Union ministers and demanded more central assistance.

During his meet with Union minister for coal Sriprakash Jaiswal, Naveen urged him to introduce a new system of assessing royalty on ad valorem basis, at 8 to 20 per cent of the market price.

Naveen also impressed upon Jaiswal that Manoharpur and Dip side coal blocks allotted to the Orissa Power Generation Corporation are extremely vital for the state’s future power generation requirements and socio-economic development of western Orissa, and hence, should be classified into the “Go” category.

Once a coal block comes under the “Go category” zone, it would not be subjected to strict scrutiny by the Union ministry of environment and forests.

The chief minister also urged for a planned approach for allocation of coal blocks in Orissa in view of the concerns of large-scale acquisition, human displacement and environment. He urged the coal minister to consider Orissa’s demands for setting up a zonal office of the Coal Controller’s Organisation in Orissa.

During his meeting with Union urban development minister Kamal Nath, Naveen demanded that the Centre should give one-time incentive to large villages for upgrading their infrastructure such as, roads and drainage, so that they volunteer to convert themselves into the Notified Area Councils (NAC).

“The Centre should establish an institute of urban management and governance in Orissa,” he said.

To expedite the release of central funds, Naveen asked Nath to adopt a programme-based approach rather than the project-based approach.

Moreover, the chief minister stressed on need to strengthen the urban local bodies through some schemes in the 12th plan to support creation of physical infrastructure as also support for technically qualified manpower.