Khattar chairs review meeting on power sector, urban missions

Chandigarh, Jul 19 (PTI) Union Minister Manohar Lal Khattar here on Friday chaired a review meeting on the power sector and urban missions with Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu.

Khattar, who holds the portfolios of Housing and Urban Affairs and Power, told reporters that after the portfolio allocation, he reviewed projects of his departments to understand issues of various states and discuss what new projects can be brought in future.

“Chaired an important review meeting of the Power sector & Urban Missions/Schemes along with Hon’ble Chief Minister, Himachal Pradesh Shri @SukhuSukhvinder at Himachal Bhawan.

“Govt. of India is committed to transform the Power & Urban infrastructure and ensure a bright & sustainable future for the people of Himachal Pradesh,” Khattar posted on X.

During the meeting, Sukhu called on the Centre to adopt distinct norms for hilly States like Himachal Pradesh for sanctioning projects under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transport (AMRUT) scheme, keeping in view the difficult terrain and topography.

Speaking to the media, Sukhu said such meetings help in discussions and pave way for resolving issues.

Meanwhile, Khattar said talks were also held on ongoing projects, including power, smart city, and urban development projects.

Khattar, who is MP from Karnal, while referring to urban development projects, said various schemes, including Prime Minister SVANidhi scheme, were also discussed and feedback was taken about the utilisation of grants issued/allocated by the Centre.

The two-hour meeting was also attended by HP Minister Vikramaditya Singh.

Khattar later left for Una in Himachal to attend a party meeting.

Meanwhile, an HP government statement about the meeting said, “Sukhu has called on the Centre to adopt distinct norms for hilly states like Himachal Pradesh for sanctioning projects under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transport (AMRUT) scheme, keeping in view the difficult terrain and topography”.

Sukhu said projects under AMRUT were sanctioned on the basis of population and the current population based criteria was unsuitable for HP and needed to be relaxed to take maximum benefit under the scheme.

The Chief Minister was speaking during a meeting with Khattar here.

Sukhu said the recommendations of 15th Finance Commission should also be reviewed periodically as the cost of projects gets escalated overtime.

He said Himachal Pradesh was one of the best-performing states under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) and urged for funds to be released for PMAY-2 once the funds under PMAY-1 were fully utilised.

The Chief Minister urged the Centre to amend the tender policy system, reducing the period from 60 days to 10 days to accelerate the pace of development works.

He said system monitoring was an important concept and focus should be laid on it. The Chief Minister urged the Ministry of Power to allow one megawatt capacity solar systems with battery backups for border areas like Spiti to mitigate the hardships caused by snow and adverse weather.

He said Rs 362 crore has been earmarked to ensure uninterrupted power supply in these areas.

According to the statement, it was informed in the meeting that clean cities of Himachal Pradesh may be declared Safai Mitra Surakshit Shehar, which would attract additional funding from the central government to enhance cleanliness efforts.

As per the HP government statement, Khattar said a proposal of developing new township at Jathia Devi near Shimla has been received and is under process.

Khattar said solid waste management plants may be set up in municipal corporations because big projects were not feasible in a small state like HP.

He said the concept of Sanjha Bazar should be explored in Himachal Pradesh so that self-help groups could sell their products at one place to earn their livelihood.

The Union Minister suggested that the state increase power production and the state should ensure maximum utilisation of running water to harness the hydro power.