Srinagar
Near to the completion of the half term of its tenure, Jammu & Kashmir government reiterates its demand over the return of the power projects from the power giant NHPC, stating that it is rigorously pursuing the matter with the Government of India.
Minister for Revenue and Parliamentary Affairs in state’s present coalition Saturday said that the matter pertaining to the return of the power projects from NHPC is under discussion with the Government of India and a breakthrough in this regard is expected to be witnessed soon. “As far as the state government is concerned, it is actively pursuing the matter related to the return of power projects. The issue is very much part of the agenda of alliance that we drafted with the BJP ahead of forming the government in the state,” said Veeri.
Veeri said the government has prioritized the issue. “Sustainable development and long-lasting peace are among the core agendas of the government besides pursuing the matter related to the return of the power projects from NHPC,” he said.
Pertinently, from the power giant NHPC the state purchases power worth billions of rupees and despite having the potential of generating 30,000 MW of power, 25 percent of state’s population, as per figures, is without electricity.
As per the informed provided by the NHPC, between 2001-2015, the NHPC has earned at least Rs 194 billion (Rs 19,431 Crores) from the sale of power generated by the hydel projects based in J&K. Of this, J&K Government had paid Rs 41 billion (Rs 4,129 Crores) to NHPC to buy 19.7% of the power that was generated by the hydel projects situated in the state.
The NHPC is running seven hydroelectric power projects in the J&K which include Salal, Uri-I, Dulhasti, Sewa-II, Uri-II, Chutak and Nimmo Bazgo. Official documents reveal that NHPC has generated 1, 15,636 million units of power from these projects from 2001 to March 2016.The NHPC data reveals that Salal has generated saleable energy 2973.54 MU in 2014-2015 and earned a profit of Rs 302.31 crore by selling power to different utilities in the country. Uri-I has generated 2635.70 MU saleable energy, with a profit of Rs 417.87 crore in 2014-15.Dulhasti has generated the saleable energy of 1850.94 MU in 2014-15 with a profit of Rs 1068.19 crore. Sewa-II has generated 479.60 saleable energy with a profit of Rs 221.26 crore. Uri-II has generated the saleable energy of 1008.87 MU with a profit of Rs 467.52 crore, Chutak have generated 158.76 MU with a profit of Rs 132.41 crore and Nimmo Bazgo has generated the saleable energy of 194.25 MU with a profit of Rs 175.45 crore respectively. Seven hydel projects were handed over to the NHPC for funding, execution and operation over a period of 10 years under a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the J&K Government and GoI.
Termed as “bible’ of the coalition between PDP and BJP, the agenda of alliance return of power projects as important condition, however, after forming the coalition in 2015, there has been no positive development in this regard.