SHIMLA, SEPTEMBER 15: Himachal Pradesh will receive 211 MW of electricity generated from the Kishau Dam without bearing the cost of generation, while the state’s annual income from the project is now estimated at around Rs 1,200 crore, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said in New Delhi on Tuesday.
The Chief Minister said the 211 MW allocation was the biggest gain secured by Himachal Pradesh in the latest agreement on the Kishau Power Project. Under the earlier arrangement, Himachal was required to bear the cost of the electricity generated from its share, a condition the state government refused to accept.
Sukhu said the government negotiated the issue continuously for nearly three years and succeeded in getting the generation cost shifted to the states that would utilise the project’s water. The saving for Himachal would otherwise have involved expenditure running into thousands of crores of rupees.
The state’s expected annual revenue from Kishau has also doubled from earlier estimates. Sukhu said the project was previously expected to generate about Rs 600 crore annually for Himachal, but current calculations put the figure at nearly Rs 1,200 crore a year after completion.
The Chief Minister said Himachal would continue pressing for a larger economic return from its water and hydropower resources, pointing to the state’s demand for 30 per cent free power royalty from the 12th to the 30th year of a project, followed by transfer of the project to Himachal after 40 years.
If a project continues beyond 40 years, the state has demanded 50 per cent free power royalty.
Sukhu said Himachal currently receives 12 per cent free power royalty and one per cent under the Local Area Development Fund, despite around 14,000 MW of hydropower and renewable energy potential being exploited by large public sector undertakings.
On displacement, the Chief Minister said affected families in Himachal would receive adequate compensation under applicable land acquisition provisions.
He said comparatively fewer villages in Himachal would be affected by Kishau, while the impact would be greater in Uttarakhand.
Sukhu also linked the Kishau negotiations to the state’s wider fight over water and energy rights, including the Bhakra Beas Management Board and the Shanan Power Project.
He said water would become an increasingly valuable resource and Himachal could not allow its natural wealth to generate disproportionate gains for institutions and companies outside the state.
The Chief Minister said Himachal provides ecological services estimated at around Rs 90,000 crore annually through clean air, glacier conservation and maintaining water availability for rivers, while suffering losses of thousands of crores from natural disasters.
The Kishau project will have participation from both Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, with equal representation and 50 per cent employees from each state, Sukhu said, expressing hope that construction would be completed at the earliest.
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