Himachal Pradesh [India], July 19 : Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister, Sukhvinder Singh Sukku has welcomed the verdict of the supreme court which enforced an 18% royalty on JSW Energy in connection with the Karcham-Wangtu hydroelectric project
"The Honourable Supreme Court has delivered a verdict in favour of the people of Himachal regarding the hydroelectric project. Now the state will receive 18% royalty. We will neither let the people's property be looted nor allow it to be plundered. Every single penny will be used for the welfare of the people--this is our promise, this is our resolve."
A spokesperson for the state government stated that with this decision, the government would receive an annual additional income of approximately Rs 150 crore. Apart from this, the decision of the Supreme Court would also be a milestone for other projects that have completed twelve years, and the state government hopes that the decision would bring an income of more than 250 crore per year to the treasury.
The state government spokesperson further said that the CM took this issue personally and made determined efforts to ensure the state's rights over its natural resources. This decision would not only increase the state's income, but also provide the people of Himachal with the real benefit of their resources.
This decision of the Supreme Court annuls the order of the Himachal Pradesh High Court in May 2024, which had allowed the company to pay only a 12 per cent royalty. According to the agreement between the state government and the company in the year 1999, royalty was fixed as 12 per cent for the first 12 years of the project and then 18 per cent for the remaining 28 years.
After the project started operating in September 2011, the company paid a 12 per cent royalty for 12 years, but refused to pay an additional 6 per cent from September 2023.
This dispute reached the Himachal Pradesh High Court, and the decision was given in favour of the company. The state government challenged the High Court's decision in the Supreme Court.
The government presented the case stromgly, with the assistance of the country's leading legal experts, and ultimately, the court ruled in favour of the state government. In this case, senior advocates Kapil Sibal, Prag Tripathi, Advocate General noop Kumar Ratan and Additional Advocate General Baibhav Srivastava appeared in the Supreme Court on behalf of the state government.
The spokesperson also stated that under the leadership of Chief Minister Sukhu, the state government has been continuously advocating effectively for the state's interests, and this decision is a significant step in that direction, which is contributing to Himachal Pradesh's success in regaining its rights.
Even before this, the present state government, while demonstrating its strong will, got the court to decide in its favour the Hotel Wild Flower Hall case, which has been embroiled in a legal dispoute since 2002. In this case, a dispute was going on between the Himachal Pradesh governmeny and a private hotel group over ownership and management rights. After the court's decision, this property has now again come under the control of the state government, as a result of which the government will get revenue benefits from this heritage property in future.