The meeting was presided over by Chief Minister Dhumal and attended by Vidhan Sabha Speaker Gulab Singh Thakur and chairman of HPSEB A.K. Goswami.

The Speaker, in whose area the project is located, was of the view that since the agreement required M/s Billarpur Industries to start work within a year and the firm had failed to honour it, the HPSEB or any other agency which could start work at the earliest could be entrusted with the job.

The Chief Minister said the government had decided to exploit the hydel potential and offered efficiency-linked incentives to private entrepreneurs.

He directed the starting of the work on UHL Stage-III with immediate effect, saying that besides income to the state exchequer, the project would also generate employment.

Earlier in the day, senior Congress leader and PCC general secretary Kaul Singh Thakur had also favoured cancellation of the MoU.