Bharat Prakash Rai of Fosep felicitates chief minister Pawan Chamling at Loreto College. Picture by Suman Tamang

Darjeeling, April 21: Sikkim chief minister Pawan Kumar Chamling today tried to hard sell his state to industrialists, holding out the promise of dirt-cheap hydro electricity.

Speaking at a ceremony, organised by the Nepali Sahitya Sammelan, Gorkha Dukha Niwaran Samity and Federation of Societies for Environment Protection, to felicitate him at Loreto College, Chamling also promised to turn Sikkim into an “organic” state in three years by stopping the use of fertiliser.

The chief minister urged industrialists to come to Sikkim, saying his government was ready to provide electricity to industry at a highly competitive rate of Re 1 per unit.

He said the rate was much lower since most states sold electricity to industries for Rs 4 to 5 per unit.

Declaring that even his ministers were not aware of his electricity plans, the chief minister said Sikkim had the potential to generate 3,440 mw of electricity from the Teesta hydroelectricity project, bringing in a revenue of Rs 700 crore.

“By 2006, when the Stage V of the Teesta project is completed, we can sell the electricity to any of the power grids of the country and immediately earn Rs 75 crore,” Chamling said.

The chief minister said he had, however, decided not to sell power to the grids, but would “supply this electricity to the industries based in Sikkim at a very cheap rate”.

The Stage V of the Teesta project, being implemented by the National Hydroelectricity Power Corporation, is coming up at Dichu in Sikkim.

Chamling said he hoped that the cheap power would attract more investors to the state, generating not only revenue, but employment in industry-starved Sikkim. “The revenue we may earn could be ten times the money invested for the state,” he said.

The chief minister also unfolded his plan to the create an organic brand name for Sikkim. “In three years, our government has decided that we will completely stop the use of fertilisers and declare Sikkim an organic state”.

He felt that the move would fetch better prices for organic products in the state. The chief minister said Sikkim would take all measures to market such products in a big way all over the country and abroad.

“Everybody now seems to seek organic foodstuff. There is no reason why we cannot achieve our target,” Chamling said. He added that the state had already earned the distinction of using the least amount of fertiliser in the country.

On average, only 3 kg of fertiliser is used in Sikkim for every hectare. “We are confident we will achieve the target. It will be for the first time that a state will go organic completely,” he said.

The chief minister said Sikkim was also exploring alternative manure to replace fertilisers. He wrapped up his two-day visit to Darjeeling, reiterating he had not come to indulge in local politics.