Centre agrees to protect Himachal’s interests in Rs. 15,624 Crore Kishau Dam Project

The States of Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Rajasthan signed a Memorandum of Understanding at New Delhi today for the implementation of the 422 MW Kishau Multi Purpose Project to be constructed at an estimated cost of Rs. 15,624 crore on the Tons river on the border of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh.

The MoU was signed in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah. The MoU was signed by the Union Jal Shakti Minister C.R. Patil, Chief Minister Himachal Pradesh Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, Chief Minister Haryana Nayab Singh Saini, Chief Minister Uttarakhand Pushkar Singh Dhami, Chief Minister Uttar Pradesh Yogi Aditya Nath, Chief Minister Delhi Rekha Gupta and Chief Minister Rajasthan Bhajan Lal Sharma.

Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu played a crucial role in protecting the interests of the state in the Kishau Dam Project. Consistent efforts of the Chief Minister resulted in breaking the eight years old  deadlock regarding bearing the financial cost.

While speaking to the media, the Chief Minister said that in a high level meeting held on 16 June, 2026 under the Chairmanship of Union Home Minister, the Centre Government has in principle agreed that estimated cost of Rs. 2000 Crore on power component of the state’s side will be borne by the beneficiary states of water component of this project, Delhi, Rajasthan and Haryana. He further said that the state government had strongly pursued the matter to save the state from bearing financial burden which the previous government could not achieve.

Chief Minister said that the previous government had agreed to give Rs. 800 Crore state’s share which the present government refused in the interest of the state keeping in view the limited resources of the state.

Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said that the case of the state was strongly pleaded that for water component, Centre Government is providing 90 percent grant and it is not fair that such assistance is not being given for power component.

He further said that while the population of the state in the area will be displaced, so the state will bear maximum loss due to the project. Therefore, it was unfair for the state to bear financial burden further and its contribution towards nation’s progress should be compensated suitably.

Chief Minister said that state will get its share of 1000 million unit per year from the power component of the project which amounts to likely more than Rs. 1000 crore  after the construction of the project which is yet another addition to the state’s financial resources.

He said that present government had always put interests of the state and its people above and effectively protected them. He said that this is a major victory in the battle of the state in its fight for securing the legitimate share of the state in power projects.

Chief Minister was accompanied by the Chief Secretary K.K. Pant and Additional Chief Secretary R D Nazeem.