SHIMLA: As the union government has termed the levying of water cess as illegal and in a circular issued on October 25 has clearly stated that no taxes or duties can be levied by any State on generation or inter-State supply of electricity under the guise of additional charges/ fee on generation of electricity from any source thermal/ hydro/ renewables etc, the deputy chief minister Mukesh Agnihotri has strongly objected to frequent writing of letters by Centre on this issue.
Mukesh Agnihotri while interacting with media persons in Shimla on Tuesday said that it is inappropriate for the Central Government to repeatedly write letters regarding not imposing water cess, whereas in reality, imposing water cess comes under the jurisdiction of the state government. He said that other states including Uttarakhand have also imposed water cess to increase their revenue and hence it was necessary for the Himachal Pradesh government to also impose water cess to increase its revenue.
He said that various rivers flow in Himachal Pradesh on which power projects have been set up by the companies. He said that water is ours, electricity is ours and projects are on our land, hence to increase its revenue, the state government has decided to impose water cess on these companies, for which Water Cess Commission has been established and only on its recommendation, the state government Cess has been imposed on companies by the government.
Mukesh Agnihotri said that earlier, a revenue of Rs 4,000 crore was expected to be generated from water cess, but now in view of the problems of some companies, the water cess has been reduced only after discussing with them, due to which the government is now expected to generate a revenue of Rs 1842 crore. He said that revenue has started coming from water cess and till now an amount of Rs 28-29 crore has been collected from water cess.
He said that the victory campaign of Congress which started from Himachal Pradesh in 2022 will continue and Congress government will be formed in the elections of five states also. He said that Congress government is going to be formed in Madhya Pradesh and Congress is going to repeat in Rajasthan and here the government is giving an LPG cylinder for Rs 500. He said that Congress has an excellent position in Chhattisgarh. Regarding the propaganda being done by the BJP regarding the failure of Congress’s guarantees, Mukesh Agnihotri said that there is no need for the BJP to worry. “Guarantees are our religion and we will fulfil them at all costs,” he said.
He said that efforts are being made to recover the losses of Himachal Road Transport Corporation and to provide bus facilities to the general public of the state, school children, employees, poor and helpless people at their doorsteps, the loss-making bus routes will also be revived. He said that the condition of Himachal Road Transport Corporation had deteriorated greatly during the reign of the previous government, to improve it, efforts have been made to provide timely salaries to officers and employees and pension to pensioners during the ten months of the present government’s tenure.
Mukesh Agnihotri while interacting with media persons in Shimla on Tuesday said that it is inappropriate for the Central Government to repeatedly write letters regarding not imposing water cess, whereas in reality, imposing water cess comes under the jurisdiction of the state government. He said that other states including Uttarakhand have also imposed water cess to increase their revenue and hence it was necessary for the Himachal Pradesh government to also impose water cess to increase its revenue.
He said that various rivers flow in Himachal Pradesh on which power projects have been set up by the companies. He said that water is ours, electricity is ours and projects are on our land, hence to increase its revenue, the state government has decided to impose water cess on these companies, for which Water Cess Commission has been established and only on its recommendation, the state government Cess has been imposed on companies by the government.
Mukesh Agnihotri said that earlier, a revenue of Rs 4,000 crore was expected to be generated from water cess, but now in view of the problems of some companies, the water cess has been reduced only after discussing with them, due to which the government is now expected to generate a revenue of Rs 1842 crore. He said that revenue has started coming from water cess and till now an amount of Rs 28-29 crore has been collected from water cess.
He said that the victory campaign of Congress which started from Himachal Pradesh in 2022 will continue and Congress government will be formed in the elections of five states also. He said that Congress government is going to be formed in Madhya Pradesh and Congress is going to repeat in Rajasthan and here the government is giving an LPG cylinder for Rs 500. He said that Congress has an excellent position in Chhattisgarh. Regarding the propaganda being done by the BJP regarding the failure of Congress’s guarantees, Mukesh Agnihotri said that there is no need for the BJP to worry. “Guarantees are our religion and we will fulfil them at all costs,” he said.
He said that efforts are being made to recover the losses of Himachal Road Transport Corporation and to provide bus facilities to the general public of the state, school children, employees, poor and helpless people at their doorsteps, the loss-making bus routes will also be revived. He said that the condition of Himachal Road Transport Corporation had deteriorated greatly during the reign of the previous government, to improve it, efforts have been made to provide timely salaries to officers and employees and pension to pensioners during the ten months of the present government’s tenure.
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