Chandigarh: Responding to Himachal Deputy Chief Minister, Mukesh Agnihotri’s rightful ownership claim on the Shanan Power Project, Punjab’s Power Minister, Harbhajan Singh, claimed that the property is theirs. He further said that the Himachal Deputy CM must check the facts associated with the rightful ownership of the Shanan Power House before making such opinions. Harbhajan Singh added that with incomplete information, Agnihotri is diminishing the mutually strong relationship of both states.

Historical Context of The Shanan Power Project:

The Shanan Power House situated at Jogindernagar, Mandi’s third-largest city. The city is popular for its alternative name, The City of Powerhouses, as it is Asia’s only city with three hydroelectric power stations. The Shanan Power Project initiation was marked with a signed agreement between Mandi’s ruler, Jongendra Sen Bahadur, and a British engineer of the undivided Punjab government, Colonel B.C. Catty, in 1925.

Initially, the project was opened with a 48 MW capacity in 1932, but later in 1982, the Punjab government made it a 110-MW hydropower project. Before independence, the project used to serve areas of undivided Punjab, including Lahore and Delhi. However, after partition, the electricity transmission line was halted at Amritsar’s Verka village.

Expiry of Shanan Power House Lease:

The Shanan Power Project location in Joginder Nagar was under Punjab under a 99-year lease, as that lease expired in March 2024, Agnihotri claimed the project property now belongs to Himachal. Defying Punjab’s ownership claims on the project over the reorganization of states in 1966, Agnihotri added that Mandi was never a part of Punjab, which makes the asset division under the Reorganization Act completely baseless.

Challenging Agnihotri’s statement, Harbhajan Singh said that after the reorganization of Punjab in 1966, a notification regarding the ownership of the assets and liabilities of the reorganized states was released on May 1, 1967. Under section 67 (4) of the Reorganization Act, the assets and liabilities of the Shanan Power House were allotted by the central government to Punjab. The Power Minister added that the Jogindernagar-based Shanan Project is currently providing services in the state as PSPCL.

Harbhajan Singh added that the Union Ministry of Power and Irrigation had informed Himachal in 1972 that the notification issued in 1967 would not be revised. Additionally, the ownership claim that was raised over the Shanan Hydroelectric Power Project was clearly rejected by the Centre in 1987. All these facts confirm the allotment of the Shanan Power Project to the Punjab government, said the Punjab Power Minister.

Talking about the Shanan Power House lease expiration, Harbhajan Singh said that the Himachal CM had written a letter to the Punjab CM in 2023 regarding handing over the project to the Himachal government after the lease expiration. He further said that the Power Department secretary has already filed a petition regarding this matter in the Supreme Court, which is under consideration, and Agnihotri must not make Himachal’s rightful ownership claims over the Shanan Power House.

This sums up the Shanan power project latest news, and the final decision about the rightful ownership will come after the SC’s final verdict.