HP seeks 90:10 funding for power component of Kishau Dam project

The Himachal Government today reiterated its request to the Government of India to adopt the 90:10 funding formula for the power component of the 660 MW Kishau multipurpose dam project, similar to the formula adopted for the water component.

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The Cabinet, which met here today under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, proposed that Centre must provide 50-year interest-free loan for the entire amount payable by the state government for the power component under the Inter-State Agreement for the Kishau project.

The Rs 7,193-crore Kishau Dam is a proposed gravity dam on the Tons River which flows between the border of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. The project envisages the construction of a 236 mts high concrete gravity dam along with a 660 MW capacity power house across the river Tons, a tributary to the Yamuna river. It will primarily harness the vast monsoon flow of Tons river by storing and utilising the regulated release thereof, for irrigation and power.

Besides Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, other states like Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh would also benefit from the project to be built on Tons river which flows from Dehradun district in Uttarakhand to Sirmaur in Himachal Pradesh.

Himachal, especially after the formation of the Congress government, has been demanding greater royalty in terms of free power share. Chief Minister Sukhvinder Sukhu has made it amply clear to the Centre that the state government will scrap the MOUs signed earlier with central public sector undertakings (PSU) for execution of various power projects.

He also raised the issue before Union Power Minister Manohar Lal Khattar during his visit here in December last month. He has said that unless Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam does not agree to enhanced free power to Himachal from the Sunni, Dhaula Sidh and Luhri hydel project, the state will not hesitate to cancel the MOUs signed earlier.

The Cabinet has decided to delegate the mandate for the allotment and monitoring of hydro and solar power projects above 5 MW as well as Green Hydrogen, Biomass and Pumped Storage Projects, to the Department of Energy.

It also approved the establishment of a 1 MW green hydrogen project in Nalagarh in Solan district to be executed by Himachal Pradesh Power Corporation Ltd (HPPCL).

The Cabinet also approved the imposition of Green Energy Development Charges for Pumped Storage Projects. A charge of Rs 2.5 lakh per MW per year will be levied for the first 10 years after the project’s commissioning, which will increase to Rs 5 lakh per MW per year thereafter.