Jammu and Kashmir have produced only 3500 megawatts of electricity under various governments during the past 70 years, prompting the administration to focus on doubling power generation in the next three years in the union territory, according to senior officials.
A total of eight new hydroelectric power projects with a capacity of 6272 megawatts has been taken up by NHPC and a joint venture that would double power generation in the UT.
“In 70 years, Jammu and Kashmir could harness only 3500 megawatts of power. Now generation capacity is to be doubled in three years and tripled in next seven years,” one of the officials said.
He said the delay in executing hydropower projects had been eliminated, and the pace of the execution accelerated. “To address the current power deficit, a large-scale capacity augmentation programme has been initiated”, he said.
Officials said eight power projects with a generation capacity of 6272 MW had 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 a joint venture with the J&K government.
The estimated hydropower 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 hydropower was assessed by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA). This comprises 11283 MW in the Chenab basin, 3084 MW in the Jhelum basin, 500 MW in the Ravi Basin, and 1608 MW in the Indus basin.
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.
The official said that 3263.46 MW had been harnessed on three western rivers — Jhelum, Chenab and Indus — through state, central and public-private partnership modes of execution.
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.
This year, rs 8,768 crore has been allocated in the budget for the power sector. In the last one-and-a-half years, they said historic steps had been taken to strengthen power generation and infrastructure.
The Centre has also approved Rs 11,000 crore revamped distribution sector scheme (RDSS) to improve the power system in the UT and provide 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.
