State Government to pay Rs 800 crore to SJVNL to take back Dhaulasidh Project: Chief Minister

SHIMLA 18 September, 2026

• Rs. 450 crore provided for Hamirpur Medical College, BJP made no contribution: Chief Minister

Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said that the state government would take back the Dhaulasidh Hydroelectric Project from SJVN Limited and would pay Rs. 800 crore for the project. He said the state government was committed to protecting rights of the state and would not compromise on them under any circumstances.
The Chief Minister was addressing a public gathering in Nadaun Assembly constituency of Hamirpur district today, following the foundation stone-laying ceremony of Rs. 31.19-crore Sadhoorapattan Bridge over the Beas River. This 250-metre-long, double-lane motorable bridge would also have a pedestrian footpath. The bridge would connect Dobar Kalan village in Nadaun with Silah village in the Jwalamukhi area of Kangra district. More than 30,000 people living in 15 gram panchayats in the Nadaun and Jwalamukhi Assembly constituencies, as well as people from the Sujanpur area, would benefit from the project. He said the bridge would fulfil a long-standing demand of the local people.
The project would strengthen road connectivity in the surrounding areas and make the movement of people and vehicles easier. The bridge would provide a direct road link between Nadaun and Jwalamukhi, reducing travel distance and saving time for local residents.
He said improved connectivity between the Nadaun and Jwalamukhi Assembly constituencies would also boost social and economic activities in the area. Easier movement of people and goods would further contribute to regional development.
The Chief Minister said that claims being made by Hamirpur MP Anurag Singh Thakur regarding the under-construction Hamirpur Medical College were not correct. He said the medical college was not a BJP project, but had been approved during the tenure of former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh. He said the notification for the medical college was issued on 22 January, 2014 and the Central Government had approved Rs. 180 crore for it at that time. He said that during his tenure as an MLA, forest clearance for the construction of the medical college was secured. The college would now be completed and made operational within two months, he added. This would provide people with better healthcare facilities closer to their homes.
Sh. Sukhu said that if a Chief Minister had not been elected from Hamirpur, only four walls would have been standing at the medical college. He claimed that the Centre had provided no assistance towards its construction and that the state government had allocated Rs. 450 crore from its own budget. He said that the previous BJP government has completely neglected Hamirpur district. The first cancer institute in North India was also being established at the medical college. The institute would be set up with Japanese support at an estimated cost of around Rs. 500 crore. He said that a further Rs. 150 crore had been allocated for the construction of a super-speciality block at the medical college, and work on the facility would begin soon, he said.
The Chief Minister said the state government was working to provide better healthcare facilities in the public sector. Improvements were being made at all medical colleges in the state, including strengthening diagnostic services. He said automated laboratories were being established at all medical colleges on the lines of AIIMS Delhi, at a cost of around Rs. 28 crore each. These laboratories would provide facilities to conduct up to 1,200 tests from a single sample.
Sh. Sukhu said that the state government was developing Kangra district as the state’s Tourism Capital and Hamirpur as its Education Capital. An Allied Healthcare College was being established in Nadaun, while the state’s first Science College was being set up in Hamirpur. An allocation of Rs. 100 crore had been made for the project, he said. He added that a Centre of Excellence for Sports was being established in Nadaun to promote sports tourism in the area. The centre would be inaugurated in October.
The Chief Minister said a Sukh Ashray complex was being constructed at Luthan in the Jwalamukhi Assembly constituency at a cost of Rs. 150 crore. A riverfront project was also being developed along the Beas River in Nadaun at a cost of Rs. 400 crore. Beas Aarti would also be started at the site, he said. He added that another bridge would soon be constructed near Amtar and that work was underway to convert all roads in the district into double-lane roads.
Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said that the previous BJP government had looted the state’s resources and that there had been scams in the name of various schemes. He said more than 23,000 houses had been completely damaged during the natural disaster. The state government had increased financial assistance for affected families from Rs. 1.50 lakh to Rs. 8.50 lakh using its own resources, he said.
He said that the idea of providing a minimum support price for naturally produced turmeric had also come to him from Nadaun. The state government had launched the Rajiv Gandhi Prakritik Kheti Yojna, under which products produced through natural farming were being provided with a support price, he said.
He added that the state government was purchasing cow milk at Rs. 61 per litre and buffalo milk at Rs. 71 per litre, with payments being made directly into the bank accounts of livestock farmers.
A state-of-the-art milk processing plant was being established at Dhagwar at a cost of Rs. 300 crore and would become operational by the end of this year, he said.
The Chief Minister said that the BJP leaders had attempted to bring down the elected government in the state. But the people stood firmly with the government and their faith on us have shown the BJP leader’s that it was not so easy to topple the democratically elected government.
He also announced Rs. 2 crore for the construction of a Panchayat Bhawan and Community Centre in the local panchayat.
On the occasion, MLA Jwalamukhi Sanjay Rattan said that the foundation stone-laying ceremony for the Sadhoora Pattan Bridge was a historic day for the Nadaun and Jwalamukhi Assembly constituencies. He said with this the long-standing demand of the people of both areas had finally been fulfilled. Several governments had come and gone, but construction of the bridge had not begun, he said.
Thanking the Chief Minister, Sh. Rattan said the bridge would serve as an important link between the two areas and would benefit people from Nadaun, Jwalamukhi and Sujanpur.
MLA Kamlesh Thakur, HPBOCWWB Chairman Nardev Singh Kanwar, Vice-Chairman OBC Dr. Mohan Lal, Mandal President Captain Prithvi Chand and other dignitaries were present on the occasion.

Samagra Sikhsha