Himachal will annually earn Rs 1,000 crore from Kishau dam project, says CM Sukhu

New Delhi, Sep 15 (IANS) Elated over the signing of a pact among six states for the construction of the 422 MW Kishau Multi-Purpose Project with an outlay of Rs 15,624 crore on a tributary of the Yamuna River, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Sukhu on Tuesday said they would earn an annual revenue of over Rs 1,000 crore with the sale of electricity generated from the project.

Besides Himachal, the other states are Haryana, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Rajasthan. The project is located on the border of Uttarakhand and Himachal.

The memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah. It was signed by Union Jal Shakti Minister C.R. Patil, Himachal Chief Minister Sukhu, Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta and Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma.

Taking to the media after the signing of the project, CM Sukhu said at a high-level meeting on June 16 under the Chairmanship of the Home Minister, the Centre agreed in principle that the estimated cost of Rs 2000 crore on the power component of the state’s side would be borne by the beneficiary states — Delhi, Rajasthan and Haryana.

He said the state had strongly pursued the matter to save the state from bearing the financial burden, which the previous government could not achieve. The Chief Minister said the previous government had agreed to give Rs 800 crore as the state’s share, which the present government refused in the interest of the state, keeping in mind the state’s limited resources.

Sukhu said that while the population of the state will be displaced, the state will bear maximum loss due to the project. Therefore, it was unfair for the state to bear financial burden further, and its contribution towards the nation’s progress should be compensated suitably.

The Chief Minister said the state would get its share of 1,000 million units per year from the power component of the project, which amounts to likely more than Rs 1,000 crore on the completion of the project.

–IANS

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