Saying that he was ready to give credit for Sardar Sarovar dam project to the Congress, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi today demanded that Centre allow to install gates on the dam so that water could reach farmers in the parched regions of the State.

Slamming the Congress-led UPA Government for “playing politics” on the issue, Modi said he did not want credit over the project. He was willing to give credit to Congress leaders if they feared that Modi would benefit (politically) if the permission was granted, he said.

“Please give us water and take the credit if you want. There cannot be any politics in this. This is for Gujarat,” Modi said, addressing a gathering of farmers here.

Blaming Congress for delay in gate installation, Modi said the initial estimated cost of the project was Rs 5,000 crore, but now it had escalated to Rs 50,000 crore.

Saying that the gates to be installed were as high as six-storey building, he said, “It would take two to three years to build each gate. There are 40 such gates to be built but still the Centre has done nothing on the issue.”

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