"Everybody talks about economic reforms. (But) nobody comes forward to support them," Modi told the inaugural session of a two-day "energy expo" organised here by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

"Gujarat is leading in the energy sector reforms. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh praised my efforts when I met him but here (in the state) his own party is staging protests against my reforms," he said.

"Talking reforms is easy, but try implementing them: everybody throws brickbats at you and not a single soul comes to voice support."

Modi returned Thursday night from a week long SouthEast Asia tour that was aimed promoting Gujarat as an investment destination ahead of January's "Vibrant Gujarat" global investors' conference.

He said while there was enough debate on new sources of energy, few were thinking about sources of energy consumption.

Modi said his government planned to improve the availability of irrigation water for farmers that would save power consumed to draw out groundwater.

"In other words, efficient water management can also lead to better energy management," he said.

Talking about power theft, Modi made a reference to the city's Juhapura locality, said to be the biggest Muslim-dominated neighbourhood here, but without naming it.

"The government refused to step inside this locality where you had dozens of 'power ministers' who provided power connection at a charge. My government decided to stop the power theft.

"Now, local residents call me up and report the remaining illegal power vendors because they have come to realise the benefits of safe and legal power purchase," he said.

"We are going to announce a scheme under which whistleblowers will receive 10 percent of the fine amount on reporting power theft," he added.

--Indo-Asian News Service