Himachal Pradesh government having decided to impose a water cess on Hydroelectric power generation in the state, Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri introduced the Himachal Pradesh Hydroelectricity Generation Water Cess Bill 2023 in the state assembly on Tuesday.
Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri (Photo:Twitter)
Himachal Pradesh government having decided to impose a water cess on Hydroelectric power generation in the state, Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri introduced the Himachal Pradesh Hydroelectricity Generation Water Cess Bill 2023 in the state assembly on Tuesday.
Speaking on the bill, Agnihotri said that it has been brought after a detailed study of the water cess imposed in Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir. In both these states, many people have gone to the courts against the water cess, but the courts have ruled in favour of the government.
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He said that the government has worked hard on this law and only after that it has been brought in the House.
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Agnihotri said that Himachal would earn about Rs 4,000 crore every year due to the levy of cess on hydropower generation. He said that at present 172 hydroelectric projects are running in Himachal.
In these projects, 10,991 MW of electricity is generated every year. He said that the sources of income of the state are very limited.
In such a situation, it has become very important to mobilize new resources in the present circumstances, he added.
Supporting the Bill, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said that the government has decided to bring this law after extensive consideration.
He said that we have to mobilise more resources to increase the income. This is the first step in this direction, he said.
He added that more such steps would be taken in the future.
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