Furnishes letter by Union MOS saying no deal has been signed with World Bank by any state or Centre Even as Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal and his Congress predecessor Virbhadra Singh have already locked horns on the carbon credits issue, a sitting Lok Sabha member, Chander Kumar, today gave a new twist to the bio-carbon project. Chander Kumar, who was minister for forests in the Virbhadra Singh government, said both Dhumal and the former chief minister are making "misleading' claims and nothing concrete has, so far, been done to earn carbon credits. In fact, he said no such project has actually been sanctioned for Himachal Pradesh with World Bank financing. The Congress leader, who represents Kangra parliamentary constituency, today released a letter written to him by Union Minister of State for Forests and Environment Namo Narayan Meena, confirming that no agreement has been signed by any government with the World Bank for funding the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project. The minister's letter has come to Chander Kumar in response to his letter on May 13, asking about the status of the carbon credit project, if any, sanctioned by the World Bank for Himachal Pradesh. The letter dated May 15 reads, "The World Bank had organised a conference on bio-carbon finance and participatory watershed management in Washington on April 26. The conference was attended by representatives of the Himachal Pradesh government. The conference discussed various ways to promote knowledge sharing and dissemination of information about the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project in the field of afforestation, reforestation and related issues.' Meena further wrote: "The Government of India has not signed any agreement with the World Bank for financing any CDM project with any state government.' The Congress MP claimed that Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal has unnecessarily created a hype about the benefits accruing to the state and even Virbhadra Singh had also joined issue with Dhumal. In reality, Himachal Pradesh has not got any project funding for the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) for earning carbon credits. He, however, asserted that the issue needs a through study and other preparatory works before the government become eligible for generating carbon credits. Project very much on: Dhumal Dhumal, when contacted in Hamirpur, where he is campaigning, said, "I am not aware of any correspondence between the Union MOS and Chander Kumar. Himachal Pradesh is moving ahead of many states on the carbon credits issue. There have been detailed talks with the World Bank and Centre. A Project Design Document is being prepared at the official level, which, once finalised, will be submitted to the Government of India and also the World Bank. The government team, which visited Washington, is working very hard to give a final shape to the project document.' The Chief Minister ridiculed the opposition's deliberate attempt to create confusion on the carbon credits issue. "Carbon credits and CDM financing will soon be available to Himachal and we are very confident of getting these benefits,' he asserted, advising Chander Kumar to update his knowledge.