Himachal to get Rs.200 crore from UP for power

Himachal Pradesh would shortly get arrears of Rs.200 crore from Uttar Pradesh for power supplied to it in 2011, an official said here Tuesday.

"Uttar Pradesh has agreed to release arrears of Rs.200 crore for the electricity supplied by the state electricity board in 2011," Himachal's Principal Secretary (Power) S.K.B.S. Negi told IANS.

He said a communication in this regard has been received by the state through the national power exchange.

The previous Bharatiya Janata Party government in the state had sold electricity worth about Rs.200 crore in 2011 to Uttar Pradesh.

Pleading the case at a conference of energy ministers in Delhi on Feb 5, Power Minister Sujan Singh Pathania had asked the central government to release the amount directly from Uttar Pradesh's planning fund.

Officials of Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board Ltd said that Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand were among the regular buyers of power from the hill state.

Himachal Pradesh, one of the country's largest hydropower producers, earned Rs.700 crore last year by selling electricity to other states.

This fiscal, say officials, it hopes to earn an additional Rs.200 crore as royalty with the commissioning of 30 projects to add 2,200 MW to the existing 8,418 MW.