Manmohan Singh said previous Congress governments always supported the Narmada dam project.
Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday said Narendra Modi never met him to make a representation about the Sardar Sarovar dam on river Narmada when the latter was the chief minister of Gujarat.
Mr Singh's rebuttal came weeks after PM Modi alleged that although he met the then prime minister several times on the issue of raising the height of the dam, there was no assurance from the erstwhile UPA government on finishing the project.
"Modiji never held any meeting with me about the issue of the dam," Mr Singh said while replying to a question about the Narmada project at a press conference.
Refuting PM Modi's allegation that the project was stalled because the UPA government was "anti-Gujarat and anti-development", Mr Singh claimed that the previous Congress governments always supported the project.
"I also want to say that when the World Bank refused to give loan for the project in 1992, I was the Union finance minister. I undertook on behalf of the Government of India that whatever money the World Bank was supposed to give for the Narmada project, the Centre will provide that to it," he said.
During his Vadodara visit last month, PM Modi claimed that every time he went to meet Mr Singh to make a representation about the dam, the then prime minister used to express ignorance about the stalled work on it.
Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani hit back at Singh, insisting numerous representations were made in the past.