Himachal Pradesh’s Plan for the next financial year has been fixed at Rs 3,000 crore. This is Rs 300 crore more than the current annual Plan.
Chief Minister P K Dhumal after his meeting with Planning Commission’s Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia today said that the social sector had been given top priority, with an allocation of 34 per cent at around Rs 1,011 crore.
The transport and communications sectors have been given second priority by allocating Rs 589 crore. Energy gets Rs 354 crore, while agriculture gets Rs 343 crore, which is double of the national average. Dhumal said the state had a hydel potential of 23,000 Mw which would be tapped by 2017.
Around 95 per cent of the hydel projects have already been allocated to various agencies. About 43 per cent will be harnessed by the private sector. He said the tourism sector was growing in the hill state despite worldwide recession. The state registered 11.4 million tourist arrivals in 2009, a growth of 12 per cent compared with the previous year.
