SHIMLA: In a major breakthrough the Himachal Pradesh government has succeeded in making the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi government agree to fund 90% of the power component of Renuka project over the Giri in Sirmaur district. The decision was taken in a meeting held in New Delhi on Wednesday under the chairmanship of Union minister for water resources, river development and Ganga Rejuvenation Nitin Gadkari Additional principal secretary to chief minister Sanjay Kundu and engineer-in-chief, IPH, had presented the case of the state government in this meeting.Renuka project involves construction of a 148m rock-filled dam over the Giri with live storage of 498 million cubic meter of water and a power house at the toe of the dam to generate 40MW of power. Himachal Pradesh will enjoy the exclusive rights over power generation. The total cost of the project in 2015 was pegged at Rs 4,600 crore, of which water component was Rs 4,325 crore and power component was Rs 275 crore. It was decided that water component would be shared in the ratio of 90:10 (centre:states). The 10% cost of water component would be shared by the beneficiary states as per their respective water allocations.In a statement, the state government said that Himachal Pradesh would be free to use its 3.15% share of total water allocation wherever it wants and there is no dam-wise limit for drawal of water. Himachal would not require any NOC for its water usage within the 3.15% share of allocated water. The state also has the right to sell its unutilized water to any state.The government of India has agreed in principle to pay all land acquisition costs of the project, including forest, environment and ecology upfront, it added.The Union ministry of water resources, river development and Ganga rejuvenation has already paid Rs 446.96 crore to Himachal Pradesh and was willing to pay the remainder cost on firm requirement from the state government. It was decided that the Union ministry would move the necessary cabinet note for the purpose.

Stay updated with all the Latest Shimla headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.