Jammu and Kashmir has been able to produce only 3500 megawatts of electricity under various governments during the past 70 years, prompting administration to focus on doubling power generation in next three years in the union territory, according to senior officials.
Total 8 new hydro-electric power projects with a capacity of 6272 megawatts have been taken up by NHPC and a joint venture that would double power generation in the UT.
“In 70 years, Jammu and Kashmir was able to harness only 3500 megawatts of power. Now generation capacity is to be doubled in three years and tripled in next 7 years,” one of the officials said.
He said delay in execution of hydro power projects has been eliminated and pace of the execution accelerated. “To address the current power deficit, a large-scale capacity augmentation programme has been initiated”, he said.
Officials said 8 power projects with a generation capacity of 6272 MW have been taken up for execution. Of these, five projects with a total capacity of 4108 MW have been taken up for execution by NHPC and three others are being developed through joint venture with the J&K government.
The estimated hydro power potential of the UT is 20000 MW, of which about 16475 MW have been identified.
Jammu and Kashmir’s potential to produce 16475 MW of hydro power was assessed by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA).This comprises 11283 MW in Chenab basin, 3084 MW in Jhelum basin, 500 MW in Ravi Basin and 1608 MW in Indus basin, they said.
Out of the identified potential, only 19.80 per cent has been exploited so far, consisting of 1211.96 MW in the state sector from 21 power projects, 2009 MW in the central sector from 7 projects and 42.5 MW in the private sector from 4 projects.
Total 3263.46 MW has been harnessed on three western rivers — Jhelum, Chenab and Indus — through state, central and public private partnership mode of execution, the official said.
Giving further details, he said Rs 1,206 crore is provisioned in the budget for the equity component of the Kiru and Rattle power projects.
For the power sector, Rs 8,768 crore has been allocated in the budget this year. In the last one-and-a-half years, historic steps have been taken to strengthen power generation and infrastructure, they said.
The Centre has also approved Rs 11,000 crore revamped distribution sector scheme (RDSS) aimed at improving the power system in the UT and providing quality power to the people of J&K.
“In this financial year, 3 lakh smart meters will be installed in Jammu and Srinagar each to ensure reliable power supply,” the official added. ( PTI )
