With less than two months left for the Supreme Court deadline to the Centre and the Bhakra Beas Mangement Board (BBMB) regarding the report on Himachals share in three power projects,the state has assessed its arrears to be around Rs 3,963 crore,legitimately due to it from November 1966 under the Punjab Reorganisation Act. The state government had initially pegged the amount to be around Rs 4,700 crore but after the Centre and the BBMB urged it to reassess its claim and exclude the Common Pool Power (CPP) cost,the figure has been brought down to Rs 3,963 crore. Himachal Pradesh is already receiving an enhanced share of 7.19 per cent power (157 MW) from three power projects under the Bhakra management after the Supreme Court order in September 2011 recognising the states share in the projects. The state was earlier getting only 52 MW from the Bhakra project and an adhoc 15 MW from the Dehar project,while it received nothing from the 360 MW Pong Dam project. Our exercise is already complete. In fact,we have revised the arrears estimates after being told to delete the Common Pool Power cost which was supplied to three installations including Chandigarh .Its now up to the BBMB to come forward as Supreme Court had given six months time for calculations,said the states principal secretary (Power),Deepak Sanan. Inquires from the Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board reveal that the Centre has already set-up a committee under the chairmanship of the joint secretary (hydro),in which,the BBMB chairman and Central Electricity Authority chairman are members. The Supreme Court had given the Centre and the Bhakra management board six months time,that will end on March 31,2012,before which the Centre will be required to prepare a final report on Himachal Pradeshs arrears due from November 1966 and submit it to the apex court. The Supreme Court ruling verdict pegging the states share at 7.19 per cent in the power projects had come as a big relief to Himachal Pradesh as the state has been for its rights for past four decades. We are hoping that the Centre would do justice to Himachal Pradesh in helping it to get also 12 per cent free power share,which the Supreme Court has not given,says Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal accusing the UPA government of discriminating against the hill state.
