The Karnataka government has demanded that the Centre should immediately issue a counter guarantee for the proposal 1,000 mw Cogentrix power project coming up in Mangalore. In a meeting with Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Friday, Karnataka chief Minister J H Patel is reported to have stressed that the Centre should not wait for a Supreme Court ruling on a public interest litigation filed against the project. The legal view taken by the state government is that the apex court will not hinder the project's progress.