4th, June, 2023

Topic: Himachal govt to bring ‘Open Hydel Policy’, says chief minister Sukhu

 

Himachal HPAS Prelims and Mains are essential.

Importance for  Prelims: Economic and social development – sustainable development poverty, inclusion, demographics, social sector initiatives, etc.

Significance for the Mains Exam:

• PAPER-VI: GENERAL STUDIES-III: UNIT II: Developments in energy sectors such as Hydro power, non-conventional sources of energy and nuclear energy including policies, programmes and research base in the country.

 

What is the news?

• Himachal Pradesh’s chief minister, Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, said on Saturday that the state will make a “Open Hydro Policy” to help power providers.

What is the Open Hydro Policy?

• CM During the meeting with the Association of Independent Power Producers (IPPs), which he was in charge of, the chief minister said that he would do everything he could to help make their projects financially successful by getting rid of any problems.
• “The state government will help them get all the permissions they need to build their power projects. If a gram council doesn’t give a “no objection certificate” (NOC) within a certain amount of time, it will be assumed to be approved. The state government will also make a “Open Hydro Policy” to help the power providers, he said.
• “Aside from tourism, the largest source of money for the state was the Hydel sector. We passed the Water Cess Act to make the state’s economy stronger.
• The state government would help them get all the permissions they need to set up their power projects. If a gram Panchayat doesn’t give a “No Objection Certificate” (NOC) within a certain amount of time, it will be thought to have been approved. “To help the power producers, the State Government would also bring in an Open Hydro Policy,” he said.
• “Aside from tourists, the Hydel sector was the State’s biggest source of income. We passed the Water Cess Act to improve the State’s budget,” he said.

 

In a meeting with the Association of Independent Power Producers (IPPs), CM gave the following promise:

• During the meeting with the Association of Independent Power Producers (IPPs), Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said that he would do everything he could to help make their projects financially successful by getting rid of any problems.
• During the meeting, CM Sukhu also asked the IPPs for a self-proposal on the amount of water cess needed to implement the Act. He told them that the government would take their proposal into account.
• “The Chief Minister said that the State Government was also looking into increasing the royalty in power projects set up by Central PSUs, especially those that have already paid for themselves,” an official release said.
• “On the request of IPPs, the Chief Minister told the HPPTCL to speed up the installation of power transmission lines so that the power supply from generation sites can be moved quickly and they don’t lose money,” the report said.
• The Chief Minister also said that the State Government would be open to their request that the electricity rates for 41 power projects be calculated from the date of business operation instead of the date of the Power Purchase Agreement.
• At the same time, he said that the State Government would also tell the Himachal Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission to think about fee based on the real costs, which are 12, 18, and 30%.
• “Chief Minister Sukhu also said that 111 small and micro power projects brought in Rs 223,60 crore for the State exchequer every year. He told the IPPs to finish their power projects on time so that the benefits of these projects could be felt as soon as possible. He also said that IPPs could provide up to 3,539 MW of power, but only 754 MW has been used so far, according to an official statement.
• “The State Government was also putting a lot of effort into using solar and wind energy, and it has set a goal of making 500 MW of solar power this year. A study is also being done to set up wind energy power projects in the State,” said CM Sukhu. (ANI)

(News Source: ANI)

 

Topic: Rs 1292 crore HP Shiva project will start

 

Himachal HPAS Prelims and Mains are essential.

Importance for  Prelims: General issues on environmental ecology, bio-diversity and Climate Change – that do not require subject specialization and General science

Significance for the Mains Exam:

• PAPER-IV: GENERAL STUDIES-I: UNIT II: Horticulture

 

What is the news?

• June 8, an agreement will be signed for the main project of the Himachal Pradesh Shiva (Sub-Tropical Horticulture, Irrigation and Value Addition) project.
• Rs 1292 crore HP Shiva project will start.

Loan agreement will be signed between?

• CM Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu said in Shimla that for this a loan agreement will be signed between Asian Development Bank, Government of India and Government of Himachal Pradesh.

 

How fund will contributed?

• The total cost of HP Shiva project will be Rs 1292 crore.
• Out of this, Asian Development Bank will spend Rs 1030 crore and Himachal government will spend Rs 262 crore.
• CM said that with the implementation of the project, the farmers of the state will get self-employment opportunities, as well as the economy of the state will also increase.

 

Crops will grow in these 7 districts with the HP Shiva project:

• This project will be implemented in seven sub-tropical districts of Lower Himachal Pradesh namely Bilaspur, Hamirpur, Kangra, Mandi, Solan, Sirmaur and Una. This project will start in 6000 hectare area under 400 horticulture clusters through 162 irrigation schemes in 28 development blocks of these districts.
• It will be implemented in two phases. Sub-tropical fruits such as orange, guava, pomegranate, litchi, mango, plum, picanut, Japanese fruit, etc. were planted in 257 clusters identified in the first phase on private land of farmers in an area of ​​4000 hectares under ‘one crop-one cluster’ concept Will go 143 clusters will be taken up in the second phase in the remaining 2 thousand hectare area.

 

60 lakh fruit trees will be planted in the state:

• 15 thousand farmer-gardener families of the state will be directly benefited from this project.
• The target is to plant about 60 lakh fruit trees in the project. Apart from this, farmers will be linked to the market along with scientific farming in the HP Shiva project based on the resolution of ‘from seed to market’. Market demand of 14 identified fruits and crops has been studied keeping in mind the requirements of marketing.
• It is noteworthy that the pilot phase of the HP Shiva project has been successfully completed. In the pilot phase, fruit trees have been planted in an area of ​​200 hectares under 17 clusters. At the same time, the farmers of 12 pilot clusters have started earning profit by producing fruits like orange, guava and pomegranate.