Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Oct 7: Deputy Chief Minister, Dr Nirmal Singh, Incharge Power and Development Department said today that the State has concurred to be a part of 24×7 ‘Power For All’ by 2019vision document of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Power Minister Piyush Goyal and will make all efforts to convert this vision into reality.
He made these remarks while addressing the conference of Power Ministers at Badodra, Gujarat today. Goyal chaired the conference.
The two-day conference of Power Ministers of all States of the country, which started this morning, will conclude tomorrow evening.
“The State has electrified more than 98.3 per cent un-electrified villages until now while rest of them villages have been proposed to be covered under DDUGJY,’’ he said.
Disclosing that Jammu and Kashmir has constituted State Energy Commission Fund for carrying out its energy conservation activities, Dr Singh lauded the support being extended by the Union Power Minister to the State for implementation of various programmes and schemes related to electricity.
He said: “the overall development of Jammu and Kashmir is directly dependent on the electricity, based on power generation, transmission and distribution. Our objective is to revise all age-old royalty agreements, particularly free-power component and transfer of hydro power projects on mutually agreeable items’’.
Asserting that in the absence of well-developed industrial sector, Jammu and Kashmir is mainly dependent on tourism and power sectors for generation of revenue, the Deputy Chief Minister said: “it is an accepted fact that given the water resources, J&K is bestowed with significant hydel potential, if exploited fully’’.
However, he said, huge resources, technical expertise, congenial environment and faster clearance from various regulatory agencies like Central Electricity Authority, Central Water Commission, Geological Survey of India, Indus Water Commission and Ministry of Environment and Forests and Climate change are required.
“These clearances are required to be made time bound through single window clearance at the Central Government level,’’ he said.
Nirmal Singh called upon the Union Power Ministry to create National Hydro Power Fund for preparation of Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) for tapping hydro potential in a mission mode in Jammu and Kashmir.
“All possible steps are being taken by the Power Ministry in the State to create an appropriate governance mechanism for periodic review and monitoring of power projects,’’ the Power Minister said.
He assured the conference of Power Ministers that Jammu and Kashmir Government will spare no effort to convert the dream of 24×7 Power For All by 2019, seen by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Power Minister Piyush Goyal, into a reality.
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