SHIMLA: The Himachal Pradesh High Court has set aside the decision of the Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu-led Congress government in the state to impose water cess on hydropower generation.
The high court said the imposition of the cess violated the provisions of the Constitution.
The Himachal government had imposed cess on 175 hydel power projects to generate almost Rs 2,000 crore revenue annually after enacting a law in the Assembly.
Several hydropower companies had challenged the decision in the high court. Before Himachal, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Jammu and Kashmir have also imposed water cess on hydropower generation.