The Himachal Pradesh government under the leadership of Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvindra Singh Sukhu has got a significant legal success from the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has given a historic decision in favor of the state government regarding royalty from Kadcham-Wangtu Hydropower Project. Under this decision, now JSW Energy Company will have to give 18 percent royalty instead of 12 percent from this project with 1045 MW capacity.
The government spokesperson said that this decision on Kadcham-Wangtu will give the state government an additional income of about Rs 150 crore. Apart from this, this decision of the Supreme Court will also become a milestone for other projects which have completed twelve years and the state government hopes that this decision will bring more than 250 crores to the treasury per year. He said that the Chief Minister took this issue on personal priority and made strong efforts to ensure the state’s rights on the natural resources of the state. This decision will not only increase the income of the state, but will also give the people of Himachal the real benefit of their resources.
This decision of the Supreme Court cancels the order of Himachal Pradesh High Court in May 2024, in which the company was allowed only 12 percent royalty. According to the agreement between the state government and the company in 1999, 12 percent royalty was fixed for the first 12 years of the project and 18 percent for the remaining 28 years. After the start of the project in September 2011, the company gave 12 percent royalty for 12 years, but refused to give an additional 6 percent royalty from September 2023. The dispute reached the Himachal Pradesh High Court and the company won. But the state government challenged the decision of the High Court in the Supreme Court.
On the instructions of Chief Minister Sukhu, the government strongly placed the matter with the help of the country’s leading law experts and eventually the court ruled in favor of the state government. In this case, senior advocates Kapil Sibal, Prague Tripathi, Advocate General Anoop Kumar Ratan and Additional Advocate General Baibhav Srivastava appeared in the Supreme Court on behalf of the state government.
The spokesperson also said that under the leadership of Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvindra Singh Sukhu, the state government is continuously advocating the state interests and this decision is a strong step in the same direction, which is successful in re -achieving its entitlements.
Earlier, the present state government demonstrated strong will power and also decided the hotel Wild Flower Hall case entangled in a legal dispute since 2002, in which there was a fight between the Himachal Pradesh government and a private hotel group over ownership and management rights. After the decision of the court, this property has now come under control of the state government again, which will give revenue benefits to the government from this heritage property in future.
