NIRMAL S STATE TIMES NEWS
SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir Government on Saturday said efforts are on for the transfer of Dulhasti and Uri Hydro power projects from NHPC in a bid to put the state on the path of “fiscal autonomy”
In a written reply to questions in the State Assembly, Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh said, who holds the power portfolio, said a number of measures have been taken to overcome power crisis in the state.
The transfer of power projects is an important part of the developmental agenda of the PDP-BJP coalition government.
“As stated in the Agenda of the Alliance, in order to address the real source of Jammu and Kashmir’s fiscal problem and pave way for making the State fiscally autonomous, the State Government will work with the Union Government to, inter-alia, explore modalities for transfer of Dulhasti and Uri hydro power projects to Jammu and Kashmir as suggested by the Rangarajan Committee report and the round table reports,” he said.
To work out the present cost of the power projects of NHPC in the state, he said an independent consultant was hired by the State Power Development Corporation (SPDCL) Limited and based on the documents available in public domain like audited balance sheets and Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) orders, the consultant had calculated the present cost of Salal, Uri-I, Dalhasti, Uri-II, Sewa-II, Nimo Bazgo and Chutak HEPs. The report of the consultant is under examination in the SPDC, Singh said. Acknowledging that Jammu and Kashmir was one of the highest Transmission and Distribution as well as AT and C loss- making state in the country, he said the department concerned has been able to bring down the AT&C losses from 72.68 per cent in 2011-12 to about 59 per cent in 2015-16.
