Himachal to give 2,000 MW electricity to northern states in summer

New Delhi, Apr 18 (UNI) Himachal Pradesh will give 2,000 MW of electricity to Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan this summer, Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal said here today.

''Himachal Pradesh (HP) will also look into the concept of 'power banking', and give 300 MW of power during the summers to Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Haryana and will take this back during winters,'' Mr Dhumal told reporters while addressing a conference on 'Destination Himachal: New Investment Opportunities'.

The State will also produce 12,000 MW of electricity by 2012, the Chief Minister added.

Mr Dhumal said the state government has recently invited bids for 11 hydro-electric projects worth Rs 3,000 crore and 587.50 MW of capacity.

To bring in total transparency in awarding of hydro projects, the state will invite competitive tenders for execution of five MW capacity hydro-electric projects as against previous policy of 100 MW capacity.

The Chief Minister also invited industrial houses to set up proposed hydro power project training institutes to impart training for executing hydro-electric projects through co-operative societies in the State.

He said the state proposes to start training institute for hospitality sector to train manpower in various tourism-related activities.

''The State Government will undertake massive upgradation of technical training institutions with a cost of around Rs 22 crores to improve skill level of youths to meet the requirement of the market,'' Mr Dhumal said adding that the industrial house should adopt the technical institution in the state and train the manpower according the industry demand.

''To protect the interests of workers, the working hours for export-oriented units have been relaxed and now the workers can be engaged on over time up to 75 hours in a quarter,'' he said.

The State Government has permitted women workers to work in two shifts in factories as well as to work in all three shifts in BPO, software and IT-related services, he added.

Talking about development of infrastructure, Mr Dhumal said, ''the night landing facilities at Kangra, Kullu and Shimla airports will be installed during current financial year.'' He added that the runways of Shimla and Kullu airports will be extended to meet the demands of landing of bigger aeroplanes in the state and new airlines will start their services to the important tourist destinations providing air connectivity at affordable rates.

''The Baddi-Barotiwala Nalagarh industrial area will be provided alternative road connectivity from Ambala-Mohali express way and the Central Government has agreed to conduct survey to construct four laning Pinjore-Baddi-Nalagarh road for obtaining approval of national highway authority of India,'' the Chief Minister said.

UNI BJR SR KN1818