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India Gazette
22-05-2025
- Business
- India Gazette
Himachal CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu meets Union Minister CR Patil; seeks support on Kishau, Renuka projects
Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) [India], May 22 (ANI): Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu met Union Jal Shakti Minister CR Patil in New Delhi on Thursday to discuss key water resource projects concerning the state. The chief minister advocated for the protection of state's rights in the Kishau Hydro Electric Project and emphasised the need for a favourable funding pattern. He said that the financial burden of the Kishau Project should be borne entirely either by the Government of India or by the major beneficiary states such as Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. During the meeting, CM Sukhu also raised critical issues concerning the Renuka Dam project. He called for due consideration of the Local Area Development Fund and the free power component. He said that while hydro projects are essential for national development, the environmental and social impacts must also be addressed and the affected states should be fairly compensated. Apart from this, the Chief Minister requested the early release of the pending amount under the Jal Jeevan Mission for the state. Union Minister CR Patil assured CM Sukhu of all possible assistance and cooperation from the central government. Chief Secretary Prabodh Saxena; Principal Advisor to the Chief Minister, Ram Subhag Singh; Resident Commissioner, Meera Mohanty and Secretary to the Chief Minister Rakesh Kanwar were also present during the meeting. Earlier on Wednesday, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to increase the import duty on apples from 50 per cent to at least 100 per cent to discourage the import of apples from Turkey and to safeguard the interests of the apple growers of the state. He also urged that quantitative restrictions should be imposed on imported apples, an official release said. In a letter to the Prime Minister, the Chief Minister said that Himachal Pradesh is known as the country's 'Apple Bowl' and is famous for producing delicious varieties of apples. The apple is the prime cash crop of the State and generates an income of about Rs. 4500 crores annually. He said that about 10 lakh man-days are generated due to the apple crop, thereby providing direct and indirect employment to more than 2.50 lakh families. (ANI)
Hans India
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Hans India
Himachal CM bats for protection of state's rights in Kishau, Renuka hydropower projects
New Delhi: Emphasising the need for a favourable funding pattern from the Centre, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Sukhu on Thursday met Union Jal Shakti Minister C.R. Patil and advocated the protection of the state's rights in the multi-purpose Kishau and Renuka Dam hydropower projects. Besides the Kishau project, then Union Minister for Water Resources Nitin Gadkari on August 28, 2018, had signed a memorandum of understanding with the Chief Ministers of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Delhi and Himachal Pradesh in New Delhi for the construction of two other major projects being envisaged in the Upper Yamuna reaches. They are the Rs 3966.51 crore Lakhwar Multi-Purpose project and the Renukaji Multi-Purpose project. At the meeting with Union Minister Patil, Chief Minister Sukhu said the financial burden of the Kishau project should be borne entirely either by the Centre or by the major beneficiary states -- Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan. The Chief Minister also raised critical issues concerning the Renuka Dam project. He called for due consideration of the Local Area Development Fund and the free power component. He said that while hydro projects are essential for national development, the environmental and social impacts must also be addressed, and the affected states should be fairly compensated. Besides, the Chief Minister requested the early release of the pending amount under the Jal Jeevan Mission for the state. Union Minister Patil assured the Chief Minister of all possible assistance and cooperation from the Central government. The Kishau project, which includes the construction of a 236-m high concrete dam across the Tons, a tributary of the Yamuna in Dehradun district, will create an irrigation potential of about 97,000 hectares, make available 517 MCM drinking water, and generate 660 MW of power. The Renukaji project, which has been conceived as a storage project on the Giri, also a tributary of the Yamuna in Sirmaur district of Himachal Pradesh, envisages the construction of a 148-m high rock-filled dam for the supply of 23 cumec water to Delhi and will generate 40 MW of power during peak flow. As per the pact of 1994, separate agreements will have to be made between the six basin states for each water storage project in the upper reaches of the Yamuna. After completion of all these storage projects in Upper Yamuna Basin (including Lakhwar), the total benefits in terms of additional irrigation potential created will be 130,856 hectares, water availability for various uses will be 1,093.83 MCM, and power generation capacity will be 1,060 MW.
