Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Wednesday said the state government will sympathetically consider the request of the independent power producers to reduce the interest rates of loans taken by them for the construction of mini and micro power projects in the state. Addressing the meeting regarding issues of Hydro-Electric Power Projects (Bonafide Himachali Association) at Shimla, Thakur said presently the State Cooperative Bank was providing loans to the power producers at an interest rate of 10.50 per cent which earlier was 13.75 per cent. Keeping in view the financial constraints being faced by the power producers, he urged the Bank to sympathetically consider their demand to further lower the interest rate of the loan amount. Jai Ram stated that the state government loan term is increased from the existing 30 years to 40 years in order to facilitate the independent power producers. The request of the independent power producers before the bank to consider One Time Settlement (OTS) or outright sale would be also considered sympathetically, he added. State Power Minister Sukh Ram Chaudhary also urged the Chief Minister to reduce the rate of interest on the loans provided by the State Cooperative Bank to facilitate the independent power producers of the state. He stated that the issue of converting the un-serviced interest into a Funded Interest Term Loan (FITL) at a rate of zero percent interest would also be considered sympathetically. Additional Chief Secretary Power and Industries R D Dhiman, Chairman State Cooperative Bank Khushi Ram Balnahta, and Secretary Cooperation Dr. Ajay Sharma were present in the meeting among others.

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