Shimla : The Himachal Pradesh government today gave its approval for setting up of a bio-technology park at Aduwal near Nalagarh in Solan district .
The state cabinet which met here decided that the park will be set up by the state industries department and will cover an area of 33 acres at a cost Rs 33.36 crore under PPP mode .
This is a highly scaled down project as the state government had earlier planned a much bigger bio-tech park at the same spot a couple of years ago .
The cabinet also decided to extend the time period of submission of DPRs of small hydro electric projects of upto 5 MW capacity from 24 months to 36 months , from the date of issuing consent letter for the projects in Lahaul and Spiti by amending the power policy .
“Extension of one year will be allowed subject to payment of an extension fee of Rs 10,000 per MW per month ,†a spokesman of the state government said .
It has also been decided to facilitate locals who have been allotted HEP of 2 to 5 MW of capacity to allow them sale of 49 per cent of their equity shares to non-locals at any stage after allotment of a project .
But transfer and dilution of shares by locals to outsiders will be subject to the condition that the original allottee retain the controlling interest of at least 51 per cent equity in the new entity unto two years after actual commisioning of the project .
The cabinet also allowed change in location of 13 small hydro electric power projects below the capacity of 5 MW .
The IPPs enhancing generation capacity by more that 20 per cent shall be liable to provide 3 per cent additional free power royalty to the state besides upfront premium .
It has also approved confessional TD(timber rights) timber rates to the right holders under the TD policy for the current fiscal year.
Fixation of rate of TD shall be now on the basis of different species of trees felled for timber .
It was also decided to provide over 4757 metric tonnes of apple procured under the market intervention scheme this year free of cost to HPMC for manufacturing of juice in different units of the state run corporation .
In a 20 year career published widely. He has worked for the BBC, AFP, The Statesman, IANS and the Business Standard . Known for his hard hitting writing and occasional off-beat stories. He lives in Shimla.
