Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu has stated the state government would take back the Dhaulasidh Hydroelectric Project from Sutlej Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited (SJVNL) and would pay back Rs 800 crore spent by the latter on the project construction till now.
Addressing a public meeting at Nadaun on Friday, he said, “The state government was committed to protecting rights of the state and would not compromise on them under any circumstances”.
The state government had initiated a process to take back three hydropower projects – Dhaulasidh 66 MW , Luhri stage 1 (210 MW) and Sunni (382 MW), being commissioned by SJVNL – back from the Central government, more than a year back ,demanding a higher annual royalty.
The Dhaulasidh project is being built in Hamirpur district and has been delayed for many years. The project was conceived in 1998 and is proposed to be built on river Beas under Nadaun Assembly constituency presently represented by the CM in Himachal Vidhan Sabha.
A MOU was signed between the state government and SJVNL in 2008 but the work has been moving at snail’s pace. .
These projects were renegotiated by the previous Jai Ram Thakur-led BJP government, giving certain relaxations in paying royalty to SJVNL as the corporation has been claiming the higher cost of construction will make the project financially ‘ unviable’.
The CM has been saying, ““The terms and conditions negotiated by the previous government were not in the interest of the state.”
SJVNL authorities have been claiming, “Giving higher royalty to the state government would make the projects financially unviable, as the long delay in commissioning these projects has already increased the project cost manifold.”
Despite the CM’s announcement it will be difficult to pay Rs 800 crore to SJVNL for the state under huge financial burden and restart the construction as production cost per unit will increase further.
