Karnataka Chief Minister JH Patel today wrote to Tata that the State Government was ``very confident'' of getting clearance from the Centre for the much-delayed project. He drew Tata's attention to the need for revalidating the memorandum of understanding between the State Government and the consortium which expires on September 30.

Outlining details of the discussions he had with Civil Aviation Minister Ananth Kumar and Defence Minister George Fernandes yesterday, he said in the letter that the Civil Aviation Ministry had clarified issues relating to five points.

They are: Integrated airspace management, total extent of land required for the project, the future of the existing Hindustan Aeronautic Limited airport, aeronautical charges and the format of the joint venturearrangement among the Government of Karnataka, Airports Authority of India and the consortium.

The three-member official team which will call on Tata consists of Chief Secretary BK Bhattacharya, N Vishwananthan, Principal Secretary, Commerce and Industries, and BK Das, Chairman and Managing Director, Karnataka State Industrial Investment Development Corporation.

``The international airport is absolutely necessary for foreign investors to sustain their interest in the State,'' Patel told media persons, hoping that the Tatas would respond to the new situation and go ahead with the project from which they had withdrawn.

He said that the existing HAL airport and its utility should not come in the way of the fructification of the new airport. The Defence Ministry was also of the same view.

He added that the HAL airport could be used for short-haul flights after the international airport became a reality.

It is proposed that the Airports Authority of India and the State Government will each have an equitystake of 13 per cent with the rest of the 74 per cent in the hands of the consortium.

Patel said that he had not set a time frame for the Tatas to respond to the offer of renegotiation but felt that everything should become clear within a month.

The Chief Minister, who discussed the delay in the Centre's giving a counter-guarantee to the Cogentrix power project in Mangalore with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee yesterday, noted that the Supreme Court had not placed any legal bar on the Centre for clearing it.

``Somebody has given the Centre misleading advice that the counter-guarantee could not be given because of the pendency of a public interest litigation which complained of kickbacks with the American power company,'' he said.