Six States Sign Pact for Renukaji Dam Project In Himachal Pradesh; Centre To Bear More Than 80 Per Cent Cost

After a bitter fight over river-water sharing issues, six states, including Rajasthan, New Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh have signed a pact with the Union government for the construction of the Renukaji Multi-Purpose Dam project in the Upper Yamuna Basin, as reported by The New Indian Express.

Nitin Gadkari, Union Water Resources Minister, on Friday, said there is enough water available in the country, but the core issue is effective water management.

As a storage project on the Giri River, this dam will lie in Sirmour District of Himachal Pradesh. It envisages construction of a 148-metre-high rock-filled dam for the supply of water to Delhi and other basin states. 40 MW of power during peak flow is estimated to be generated by the project.

The project will be executed by The Himachal Pradesh Power Corporation Ltd. (HPPCL), and the total live storage is 0.404 MAF. The project will submerge an estimate of 1,508 hectares in the territory of Himachal Pradesh.

The Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change is yet to give the Stage-II clearence to the project. “A consensus on the Kishau Multi-Purpose project on River Yamuna has also been developed, and soon an agreement for it will also be signed,” said Gadkari.

The total cost of the project, estimated on 2015 Price Level, is Rs 4596.76 crore. Out of this, the cost of irrigation/drinking water component is Rs. 4325.43 crore, and the cost of power component is Rs. 277.33 crore. The 90 per cent cost of irrigation/drinking water component of the project, Rs. 3892.83 crore, will be provided by the Centre and rest 10 per cent, Rs. 432.54 crore, will be provided by the six basin States