SHIMLA, 24.05.25-

CM calls upon Prime Minister Narendra Modi

· Discuss royalty issues of Projects and Tourism initiatives

Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu met the Prime Minister Narendra Modi at New Delhi today.

He requested the Prime Minister for liberal financial assistance to the state and to release the funds due to the state at the earliest.

Chief Minister apprised him about the vision of state government to make Himachal Pradesh a self reliant state by 2032. He said that already state government is making efforts in this direction by formulating schemes and strengthening the existing ones. He elaborated about the initiatives of the state government in tourism, green energy, power and other sectors.

He strongly pleaded for safeguarding the interests of the state in hydropower projects and urged to fix a time limit for handing over the projects back to state. He also raised the issue of free royalty and handing over the projects under PSUs and CPSUs which had completed 40 years. Chief Minister also discussed other issues related to return of excess land and enhanced royalty form projects which have completed 40 years and have recovered their cost.

Chief Minister also discussed about Kangra airport and pleaded to protect the interests of apple growers of the state. He raised the issue of importing apples from Turkey and other countries.

The Prime Minister heard the demands of the Chief Minister and assured of looking into the matter of import of apples besides assuring of sympathetic consideration about other issues.

Chief Secretary Prabodh Saxena was also present.

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CM advocates for release of pending dues of Himachal

• Says, HP will itself become self-reliant if its legitimate dues are given in time
• Takes up Hydel and Tourism issues in NITI Aayog meeting

Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu attended the tenth Governing Council meeting of Niti Aayog at New Delhi today. The meeting was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Discussions were held on this year's theme Viksit Rajya for Viksit Bharat@2047. Focus was laid on development challenges being faced and overcoming them to achieve the objective of developed nation.

He said that special needs of the hill states should be taken into account and considered for higher allocation of funds thereby relaxing eligibility criteria in various schemes. Chief Minister also demanded release of funds due to the state which were pending since long. If the long pending dues were released by the centre well in time, Himachal Pradesh will itself become self reliant, stated the Chief Minister.

Chief Minister elaborated on the state government's vision to bring Himachal Pradesh as the most favorite tourist destination on the tourism map of the country. The State Government envisions a compact package for tourism promotion which includes and will integrate Religious tourism, Eco tourism, Water Tourism, Nature Tourism, Health Tourism etc which can attract all kinds of tourists from the country and as well from abroad. We are also expanding the Kangra Airport to facilitate the landing of the larger Airplanes which will add to the economy of the region as footfall of tourists will increase manifold.

He also strongly pleaded about State's rights in hydro power projects and raised the issue of free royalty and handing over the projects under PSUs and CPSUs which had completed 40 years.

Chief Minister raised the matter of royalty aligned with the State Government’s energy policy. He outlined the policy, which mandates 12 percent royalty for the first 12 years, 18 percent for the subsequent 18 years and 30 percent for the next 10 years in the power projects. He said that private companies already comply with this policy and emphasized that central PSUs should also follow it as well.

Chief Minister also informed that Himachal Pradesh is the Lungs of North India and has contributed a lot to preserve the green cover and added that state should get Green Bonus for protecting the environment. The state government has set a target to make Himachal Pradesh a Green Energy State by 31March, 2026. “In the coming years, Himachal Pradesh will become a pioneering State in green hydrogen production in the country. A one-megawatt capacity green hydrogen plant is being set up in Solan district in collaboration with Oil India Limited, he said.

Deliberations were also held on taking action on promoting entrepreneurship, skill development and sustainable employment opportunities.
Chief Secretary Prabodh Saxena, Secretary to Chief Minister Rakesh Kanwar accompanied the Chief Minister.

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Dr. Abhishek Jain stresses on strengthening statistical systems for timely achievement of targets

Secretary, Public Works Department Abhishek Jain said that it was essential to develop robust statistical systems in order to accelerate development initiatives and ensure the timely achievement of targets. He was addressing a one-day workshop on "Support for Statistical Strengthening (SSS)" at Kyarighat in Solan district, today. The event was jointly organised by the Department of Economics and Statistics, Himachal Pradesh and the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Government of India.

Dr. Jain said that the primary objective of this workshop was to enhance the capacity of the statistical systems state to ensure the availability of reliable and accurate statistical data. Under the SSS scheme the state receives both technical and financial assistance for statistical activities such as data collection, processing and analysis.

He said that the scheme would facilitate efficient data collection and the use of modern technologies for data processing. This, in turn would provide the necessary data to monitor development projects effectively. Timely monitoring would ensure the timely completion of the projects and helps in cost saving. It would boost the economy of the region. He further said that the workshop would play a key role in improving data quality and utility besides benefiting the management and operation of data. He stressed the importance of data-driven governance and said that the evidence-based planning was fundamental to the success of any policy or scheme.

Dr. Jain said the growing demand for statistics in the modern era, noting that statistical data collection enables more targeted and effective policy implementation. He underscored that data should be accurate, updated and standardized and that the Department of Statistics should serve as a central repository for data across all government departments. He also mentioned the importance of making such data accessible in various formats to keep the public well-informed about ongoing schemes and programmes.

Economic Advisor Dr. Vinod Rana said that a sound statistical system was crucial to achieving sustainable development goals and ensuring transparent and accountable governance. He urged all data-generating departments to produce verifiable data aligned with GDP estimations and utility requirements.

Prof. N.S. Bisht provided a comprehensive overview of challenges, reliability and quality associated with primary data collection.

The departments of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, Horticulture, Forests, and Labour Bureau and other departments gave insightful presentations on various aspects of the subject.

Group one, comprising participants from Chamba, Solan and Kullu districts, shared strategies and field experiences related to primary data collection. Group two from Bilaspur, Hamirpur and Una districts discussed techniques and challenges related to data compilation and tabulation. Group three representing Shimla, Sirmaur and Mandi districts presented on data dissemination and related topics.

Presentations were also made on topics such as data analysis in the Labour Bureau, Census, State Income Section and the Himachal Pradesh District Good Governance Index.

Deputy Director of the Census Department, Government of India Ashish Chauhan, Deputy Director of Labour Bureau, Chandigarh Chitra Ahlawat, Deputy Director of the National Statistical Organisation, Shimla Ajay Kumar, Additional Director of the State Rural Development Department Surender Mohan, Joint Director of the Department of Economics and Statistics Anupam Kumar Sharma, Divisional Forest Officer Solan H.K. Gupta and other senior officials and research officers from different departments across the state were present in the workshop.