The Centre on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that the Punjab government is very close to agreeing to its proposal on the issue of payment of dues to Himachal Pradesh arising out of the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) projects since 1966.On July 30, the Centre had told the apex court that an amicable settlement can be reached on a new cashless formula between the partner states for payment of arrears.The top court had then recorded that the governments of Himachal and Haryana have in principle agreed to the Centre’s proposal but the Punjab government has objected.The apex court had pulled up the Punjab government for not agreeing to the proposal, observing that it has the habit of not following the decree of the court.On Wednesday, senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the Himachal Pradesh government, told a Bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana that the apex court has listed the matter for finding out whether the Punjab government is agreeable to the Centre’s proposal or not.”I must say now today we speak in a joint voice. Punjab is coming very closer,” Attorney General R Venkataramani, appearing for the Centre, told the bench.”I think we are going to iron out the creases,” Venkataramani said and requested the bench to list the matter for hearing next week.The Bench posted the matter for hearing on August 20.According to sources, BBMB is paying 7.19 per cent share of Himachal Pradesh’s electricity from Bhakra Beas projects after November 1, 2011, while Punjab and Haryana have not paid the outstanding dues of BBMB projects for the previous period, which is 13,066 million units.Under the proposal, since no consensus was reached among the parties on the rate of electricity to be applied, the Centre has suggested payout to Himachal by Punjab and Haryana in energy terms.It was also decided that Himachal will not pay the dues of Rs 420 crore to Punjab and Haryana and the amount will be adjusted from 13,066 million units of electricity.According to the Centre’s proposal, the payout to Himachal by Punjab and Haryana will not be in monetary terms but on an energy scale for over 12,000 million units out of 13,066 million units of electricity arrears.Besides, the hilly state from which the river Beas flows does not have to pay over Rs 400 crore towards capital cost to Punjab and Haryana.On July 30, Venkataramani had told the bench that the government has suggested a total cashless settlement because if the parties go by the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966, there will be no settlement.Senior advocate Nidesh Gupta, appearing for the Punjab government, had told the bench that they have a problem with the rate at which arrears are to be paid.He had said the rate of Rs 2.5 per unit of electricity is very high and it should be a reasonable rate, otherwise, the state will incur a loss of around Rs 2,000 crore.The Bench had told Gupta that if Punjab does not agree to amicable settlement, then the court would examine the issue on merit and pass orders.The Himachal Pradesh government had said the state was entitled to the arrears on the terms decided by the apex court in 2011.After failing to settle an inter-state dispute about allocation of assets for decades following the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966, Himachal had moved the apex court in 1996 through an original suit, pleading that as a successor state, it was entitled to 7.19 per cent share in the BBMB projects.After the Central Government failed to settle the dispute between the states out of court, the top court on September 27, 2011 passed a decree.According to the decision of the apex court of 2011, the share of Himachal was fixed at 7.19 per cent, while that of Punjab and Haryana at 51.80 per cent and 37.51 per cent respectively.Rajasthan’s share largely remained unaffected, while the share of Union Territory of Chandigarh was fixed as 3.50 per cent.According to the 2011 decision of the court, Himachal was to get a share in the Bhakra project from November 01, 1966, the Dehar project from November 1977 and the Pong Dam project from January 1978.On July 13, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said that nearly 15 years ago, the Supreme Court had clearly recognised the state’s entitlement to 7.19 per cent share in BBMB projects and the benefits arising from them.He said that despite this, Himachal had been deprived of its share of 13,066 million units of electricity and the associated financial benefits for more than a decade.Sukhu said the state was taking all necessary legal and administrative steps to recover approximately Rs 4,200 crore pending dues from the BBMB.