Six states including Rajasthan sign Renukaji Dam project agreement

Union Water Resources Minister Nitin Gadkari and six Yamuna basin states, namely Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh on 11th January 2019 signed an agreement for construction of Renukaji Dam Multi-Purpose Project. The 148-meter-high Renukaji dam would come up in Himachal Pradesh’s Sirmour district at a cost of Rs 4,596.76 crore. The central government will contribute Rs 3,892.83 crore, or 90% of the cost of the irrigation and drinking water component of the project, while the rest will come from the states. 

The project is proposed to be executed by Himachal Pradesh Power Corporation Ltd. The live storage of the Renukaji Multi-Purpose Project is 0.404 million acre-foot and it would ensure supply of 23 cubic metres per second water to the basin states. The project will also generate 40 MW of power and the Delhi government has agreed to fund 90% of the cost of the power plant.  The Central government has so far released Rs 446.96 crore for this project. Among states, Delhi has released Rs 214.84 crore and Haryana, Rs 25 crore.
The important features of the project are:

• Renukaji Dam Multi-Purpose Project is a storage project on the Giri river which is tributary of the Yamuna at Sirmour district of Himachal.
• A 148 m-high rock-filled dam would be constructed across the river Giri.
• The project also involves the generation of 40 MW of power during peak flow to be executed by Himachal Pradesh Power Corporation Ltd (HPPCL).
• The project would increase by the river flow about 110 per cent which will be used to meet the drinking water needs of Delhi and the other Yamuna basin states up to some extent in the lean period.
• The share of stored water among the states will be as follows,  Haryana-47.8 per cent; Uttar Pradesh/ Uttarakhand-33.65 per cent; Himachal-3.15 per cent; Rajasthan-9.3 per cent and NCT of Delhi: 6.04 per cent.
• The Central government will bear 90 per cent of the cost of irrigation/drinking water component, and the balance cost will be borne by the states.