• A day before Punjab’s 99-year lease of the Shanan power project was to end, the Centre has ordered the status quo so as not to disrupt the functioning of the 110 MW power plant, located in Mandi, Himachal Pradesh.

ABOUT THE PROJECT

• The initial capacity of the Shanan Power Project was 48 MW which, over a period of time, has been increased to 110 MW.
• When the project was first envisaged, its cost was Rs 2.50 crore, but its value today is calculated at around Rs 1,600 crore.
• The British-era project at Jogindernagar, 40 km from Palampur in HP, was constructed in 1925 under the lease executed between Raja Joginder Sen, the ruler of the then Mandi State, and Col BC Batty, a British representative.
• The project harnesses the power of the Uhl River, a tributary of the Beas River.