Power can bring economic rebound, says Mehbooba

Tribune News Service

Jammu, April 28

To address the complex issues faced by the power sector in the state, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti today asked the Power Development Department (PDD) to devise a comprehensive roadmap in view of the distress in power generation, transmission and distribution systems so that quality power supply was ensured to consumers.

She advised the department to take all necessary steps to clear mounting liabilities on account of power purchase. “Power is a key enabler to fuel a rebound in the economy, for which PDD will have to firm up timelines to ensure timely execution of projects. The power scenario remains sluggish and we need to do more as the state has the potential to generate far more,” she observed.

She said this while chairing a high-level meeting to review functioning of the PDD. Raising certain specific issues which were a drag on the power sector, Mehbooba asked the PDD to harness the identified power potential of around 15,000 MW, of which the state was able to generate only 3,272 MW.

Against an amount of Rs 5,247 crore required for power purchase, a budgetary allocation of Rs 3,785 crore had been made. To meet the widening gap between power purchased and revenue realised, the Chief Minister was informed that the shortfall would have to be bridged by issuance of bonds by the government.

To ease constraints, Mehbooba urged the PDD to remove impediments in commissioning of under-execution state sector projects like Parnai, Lower Kalnai, Hanu & Dah as well as those in the independent power producer (IPP) category like Rattle HEP within the stipulated timelines. “Active forward movement is required on stalled projects,” she observed.

The Chief Minister was presented with a roadmap for capacity addition for the next six years that envisaged 6,254.5 MW generation through 13 state sector projects, 1,679 MW through five central sector projects and 1,210 MW through big and small IPP projects.