*Kishanganga in 2017, GVK to exit from Ratle
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Apr 28: Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti said today that the State Government would spend Rs 2000 crores for mini-hydel power projects (all between 9 to 15 mw) to harness power potential in Jammu and Kashmir even as the Government has decided to re-tender Ratle power project in Kishtwar after GVK decision to exit from the project while Kishanganga power project over river Neelum in Gurez will be completed next year.
The Chief Minister said this while reviewing performance of Power Development Department along with Deputy Chief Minister Dr Nirmal Singh, other Ministers and senior officers of the administration.
Mehbooba said the Government would utilize Rs 2000 crores, a provision of which has been kept in the Prime Minister’s Development Package, for construction of mini-hydel power projects of 9 to 15 mw, to help harness power potential in the State.
Calling upon the authorities to work out ‘Summer Preparedness Plan’ to meet power shortage and avoid inconvenience to the general public, she called for strict adherence to power cut schedule.
Official sources told the Excelsior that Punjab Government has agreed to the supply of 120 mw power to Jammu and Kashmir from Ranjit Sagar dam. Hitherto, Punjab had been refusing to give any power to J&K from the project.
Dr Nirmal Singh, who holds charge of the Power Department, confirmed to the Excelsior that Punjab has agreed to release 120 mw power to J&K from Ranjit Sagar dam, which would boost power supply position in the State.
Sources said the Government has, meanwhile, decided to give exit route to GVK, which had been allotted work on Ratle power project over river Chenab in Kishtwar district but now wants to exit.
As soon as the formalities for completion of GVK’s exit are completed, the project would be re-tendered for its early completion. On the other, Kishanganga project over river Neelum in Gurez will be completed in 2017 while work would be expedited on Pakal Dul and Pranai project and 18mw project Dahani in Ladakh.
The Government has decided that Jammu and Srinagar, the two capital cities, Katra, the base camp of Mata Vaishno Devi ji shrine and industry would get dedicated Grid Stations for the power supply.
“The dedicated Grid Stations will ensure that there were minimum power cuts in these areas. The efforts would, however, be aimed at providing 24×7 power supply,” they said.
Sources said the peak demand of power supply during last financial year was 2740 mw while the supply from all resources was 2158 mw, leading to 582 mw shortfall, which prompted the Government to go for power cuts.
Sources said the Chief Minister asked the PDD to harness identified power potential of around 15,000 mw, out of which State was so far only able to generate 3272 mw. She called for comprehensive roadmap in view of distress in power generation, transmission and distribution system to ensure power supply to the customers.
“The power scenario remained sluggish and we need to do more as the State has potential to generate far more power,” Mehbooba said and advised the PDD to take all steps to clear mounting liabilities on account of power purchase.
An official handout said:- Against an amount of Rs.5,247 crore required for power purchase, a budgetary allocation of Rs.3785 crore has been made. To meet the widening gap between power purchased and revenue realized, the Chief Minister was informed that the shortfall will have to be bridged by issuance of bonds by the State government.
To ease constraints, Mehbooba Mufti urged PDD to remove impediments in commissioning of under-execution state sector projects like Parnai, Lower Kalnai, Hanu & Dah as well as those in IPP like Rattle HEP within the stipulated timelines. “Active forward movement is required on stranded projects,” she observed.
The Chief Minister was presented with a roadmap for capacity addition for the next six years that envisages 6254.50 MW generation of power through 13 state sector, 1679 MW through 5 central sector and 1210 MW through big and small IPP projects.
On T&D infrastructure, ‘Power For All’ (PFA) and Flagship schemes, the Chief Minister insisted upon augmentation, upgradation and renovation of existing systems, keeping in view the insufficient infrastructure to meet the power demand in the State.
To show signs of credible recovery, she asked the Power Secretary to ease bottlenecks in implementation of flagship schemes like RAPDRP (Restructured Accelerated Power Development & Reforms Programme), DDUGJY (Deen Dayal Upadhayaya Gram Jyoti Yojana) and IPDS (Integrated Power Development Scheme), where the current status presents a grim picture.
The Power Secretary said the T&D losses will be contained once systems’ improvement takes place under various flagship schemes.
She was informed by the Power Secretary that against a load of 840 MW in March, the demand increases to 970 MW in June, predominantly on account of increase in cooling irrigation and PHE load. To address this, he said power drawal at the transmission level is being enhanced by 300 MW as a result of augmentation of Hiranagar Gladni 220 KV Line by May 15 next month.
Drawing a comparison between actual revenue realization and consumer metering status in the State, Finance Minister Dr Haseeb Drabu suggested to the Chief Minister mapping of actual consumers by linking data of Power Department with CA&PD and Sates Tax Departments. This, he said, will enable the department to broaden the net of actual consumers which will result in a corresponding increase in revenue realization.
An amount of Rs.1937.27 crore has been realized from 16,25,422 consumers in 2015-16, which is an increase of only 11.6 per cent, as compared to 2014-15 figures.
The Chief Minister was also briefed about ‘Power for All’ which aims at ensuring uninterrupted supply of power to existing consumers and providing access to electricity to all unconnected consumers in a time-bound manner by 2019-20. As many as 108 villages are still un-electrified in the state, which PDD is targeting to cover over the next three years.
Presenting a brief of short-term deliverables, the Power Secretary apprised the Chief Minister about some of the measures the department will take over the next six months to improve the power scenario.
These include ‘Energy Efficient Lighting’ through UJALA Scheme for domestic consumers, government departments and streetlights; setting up of two state-of-the-art testing labs and 120 mobile meter test benches for each subdivision; replacement of barbed wire / conductors and worn out poles through an institutional mechanism headed by respective DCs; evacuation of 120 MW from Ranjit Sagar Dam (Thein Dam) and showcasing two areas in Capital Cities of Jammu and Srinagar as models under RAPDRP.
The Chief Minister asked Power Secretary to incentivize metering by linking it with UJALA scheme, an LED based domestic lighting initiative under which 80 lakh LEDs will be distributed amongst domestic consumers. She was informed that the scheme will be rolled out by May 15 next month and if implemented successfully, the state will recover investment by saving on energy.
The meeting was informed that about 2 lakh electronic meters shall be installed under RAPDRP in Jammu & Srinagar by March 2017 while as ‘Smart Grids’ in six pilot towns will also be undertaken for which DPRs have been framed.
“Once feeder metering is completed in the entire state over the next six months, we will be able to undertake energy auditing which will be a huge achievement for the department,” he told the Chief Minister.
Deputy Chief Minister, Dr Nirmal Singh, in his remarks, highlighted the steps taken by the department in reducing transmission and distribution losses. He said PDD is making strenuous efforts to ensure Power for All by covering all un-electrified habitations.
Development Commissioner, Power, Gul Ayaz, Chief Engineers, M&RE, Bashir Ahmad Khan and Ashwani Gupta, Executive Director, JKSPDC, M. A. Lanker and Asgar Ali, Secretary Tech, besides several other senior officers attended the meeting.
Also present were Minister for Finance, Labour & Employment, Dr. Haseeb A. Drabu, Minister of State for Haj & Auqaf , PHE, I&FC, I&C and Power, Syed Farooq Ahmad Andrabi, Chief Secretary, B. R. Sharma, Financial Commissioner, Planning & Development, B. B. Vyas and Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Navin K. Chaudhary and Commissioner/Secretary Power, Dheeraj Gupta.
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