Deadlock over Kishau project on

Kuldeep Chauhan

Tribune News Service

Shimla, January 21

The deadlock over 660-MW Kishau multi-purpose power project proposed to be built on the Tons river continues as the state government has sought redraft of the agreement before signing an MoU with five other partner states of the project.

According to sources, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur has communicated to Union Minister for Water Resources Nitin Gadkari that the Centre should fund 90 per cent cost of the power component of the project and the remaining 10 per cent should be equally divided between Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand which will share power generated from the project.

The state and the Uttarakhand Government reasoned that when the Centre was ready to fund 90 per cent cost of the irrigation component of the Kishau dam, then it should also fund 90 per cent cost of the power component as well, considering that both the states are special category Himalayan states and the project is of national importance.

On January 12, Gadkari had talks with Thakur and his Uttarakhand counterpart TS Rawat to prepare ground for signing of an MoU, but both the states sought redrafting of the terms and conditions of the agreement before signing the MoU. The signing of the pact was postponed without a fresh deadline, said the sources.

The other beneficiary states, namely Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi, have also not contributed their respective share to Himachal Power Corporation Ltd (HPCL) which has been assigned the project. As per the proposal, these states will get 1,824 million cubic metres of waters from the proposed 236-m Kishau dam.

The cost of the project is estimated to be Rs 7,200 crore. The Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand Governments have created a special purpose vehicle to execute the project and set up its corporate office at Dakpathar in Uttarakhand in 2017.

“The Chief Minister has taken up the matter of funding the power component of the project in 90:10 ratio with the Centre, but we have yet to get the redraft of the agreement from the Ministry of Water Resources,” said Devesh Kumar, MD, HPCL.