HP to amend energy policy: Sukhu

Dharamshala: Chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Tuesday said the state government would change the energy policy to make Himachal Pradesh self-reliant.Along with the changes in the energy policy, the government also aims to harness 500 MW of solar energy by December next year, he said.In winter months, Himachal Pradesh buys electricity from neighbouring states at expensive rates. By achieving the set target of solar energy production, the government will save Rs 1,000 crore annually on electricity purchase, Sukhu said during a discussion on the motion moved by Congress MLA Chaitanya Sharma in the Himachal assembly on the approach towards renewable energy for a secure future of the state.Sukhu said in the next four months, the state’s largest solar power plant of 32 MW would be established at Pekhuwala. The government aims to make the state a green energy state by 2026. For this purpose, solar energy is being increasingly exploited. Also, the government is giving a 50% subsidy on the purchase of electric vehicles, he added.The CM also said under the Rajiv Gandhi Startup Scheme, 50% subsidy would be given to the youth to buy e-taxis. So far, 582 youth have applied to buy vehicles under the scheme. He said the government was also moving towards exploitation of phosphorus energy.Sukhu, meanwhile, accused the previous BJP government of ignoring the interests of the state. He said the BJP government gave Luhri-Sunni and Dhaula Siddh projects to the SJVN on easy terms. But now the government will either withdraw these projects or hand them over to SJVN on its own terms, claimed the CM.He also said the central government created hurdles in the recovery of water cess in Himachal Pradesh. The Himachal BJP leaders should talk on this issue in Delhi, said Sukhu.The opposition members were stunned by the CM’s remarks on the central government. Leader of opposition Jai Ram Thakur said the chief minister was making wrong statements in the House on the issue of water cess.Thakur said even in Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir, water cess was not being collected from the central public sector undertakings. He said the letter from the central government was for all the states, not just for Himachal Pradesh.Earlier, Congress MLA Chaitanya Sharma, raising the matter under Rule 63, said the vision presented by the CM to make Himachal Pradesh a green state and promote renewable energy would lead to a plan to promote electric vehicles. He said the Sukhu government was an action-oriented government and the e-taxi scheme launched for the unemployed was a proof of this.