Shimla: The Shanan Power House has been a major bone of contention between Himachal Pradesh and Punjab, with both states claiming ownership of it after the 99-year lease of the British-era hydel power plant expired last week. But the Centre’s 1 March directive to maintain “status quo” has left Himachal high and dry, as the project will remain with Punjab for now.
The 110-megawatt hydroelectric powerhouse is located on Uhl — a tributary of the Beas River — in Jogindernagar in Himachal’s Mandi district. It is currently controlled by Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL). It is a profit-making entity, generating a revenue of Rs 200 crore per annum. If cash-strapped Himachal gets this project, it would be the one of the highest revenue generating government entities in the state.
The Centre’s directive came after the Punjab government approached the Supreme Court with a plea to ensure that the hydropower project stays with it even after the expiry of the lease. Himachal Pradesh meanwhile had been waiting for the lease to expire, keen to claim the Rs 1,600 crore plant that generates Rs 200 crore revenue per annum, after several failed attempts in the past.
The power plant was constructed in 1925 on land leased to the British, when Mandi was a princely state. The 99-year lease deed was executed between erstwhile ruler of Mandi state Joginder Sen and Col BC Battey, a British official, in 1925.
After the 1966 reorganisation of states, when Himachal was a Union territory, the project was given to Punjab. When Himachal became a full-fledged state in 1971, the demand to hand over the project to Himachal gained momentum.
Himachal Pradesh has contended that the land belongs to it and the entire project is within its boundaries, and it was wrongly given to Punjab.
The Supreme Court has listed the matter for 8 April. Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu told the media Tuesday that the state will fight every battle to win the Shanan power project.
Prabodh Saxena, Himachal Pradesh chief secretary, told ThePrint, “We want it (Shanan power plant) back. That’s our one-point agenda. We have represented our case before the Union government many times. If the matter goes to the court, we will appraise it with the facts.”
Meanwhile, Punjab Power Minister Harbhajan Singh said there was “no dispute” over this project. “Punjab owns Shanan Power House. We were getting reports of poor upkeep of the project. Our government has made a plan to revamp this project. I also visited the powerhouse last year,” he told ThePrint.
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The tug-of-war over Shanan Power House
Himachal Pradesh claims that the power project was “erroneously” given to Punjab in May 1967 while notifying apportionment of assets, rights and liabilities under the provisions of the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966.
In June last year, Sukhu had apprised the Union power minister R.K. Singh that the state would not renew the land lease. Both had a detailed deliberation over this issue at Kinnaur in June 2023.
On the chief minister’s directions, the state revenue department initiated the process of preparing revenue papers to strengthen its claim over the project and sent a report to the state.
A Himachal revenue department official told ThePrint that a fresh report was also sent to the Centre just before the expiry of the lease. The report stated that 736 bigha of land is in the possession of the PSPCL and the owner of the land is the Himachal Pradesh government, according to the 1961 revenue settlement records.
A senior government official told ThePrint that Himachal Pradesh had hopes from the central government especially after the CM met with the Union power minister. “We have raised this matter well before the expiry of the lease term. The Centre should have resolved the matter. The Centre’s order to maintain the status quo is not beneficial for the state. The Union ministry should have resolved the issue before the expiry of the lease,” the official added.
Former Himachal chief minister Shanta Kumar has termed the delay in the allocation of this project to Himachal a “great injustice”.
According to the Punjab government, the project was allocated to Punjab on 1 May 1967 by the Union Ministry of Irrigation and Power. “The union government has already rejected Himachal’s claim of taking over the property based on the 1967 notification,” a senior Punjab government official told ThePrint.
“Himachal Pradesh has been raising objections over the project ownership for a long time and it stands clarified by the Government of India vide letter dated 22 March 1972, reaffirming the allotment of Shanan Power House in favour of Punjab,” the official added.
“Himachal should have got the project back in 1967 as per the provisions of the Punjab Reorganisation Act. I took up this matter with the then PM Morarji Desai in 1978 and he had agreed to it,” he said.
The PSPCL too maintains that the project belongs to Punjab.
A senior PSPCL official told ThePrint that the Centre had turned down Himachal’s effort to reclaim this project earlier. “PSPCL has built the 100-megawatt Bassi hydropower project in lieu of Shanan,” the official further said, adding that the matter is now subjudice.
The official added, “As per the central notification dated 1 May 1967, Punjab has legal control over the project. Punjab now has sought a permanent prohibitory injunction through its petition in the Supreme Court.”
While submitting a Rs 133-crore plan for the Shanan Power House to the Punjab Electricity Regulatory Commission in January this year, the Punjab government stated that Himachal Pradesh has no legal locus standi for challenging the gazette notifications dated 1 May 1967 and 22 March 1972, which were issued by the central government. “Therefore, there is no plan to revert or transfer Shanan Power House to Himachal Pradesh,” it further said.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
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