Jammu and Kashmir State Power Development Corporation (JKSPDC) has been constituted essentially to give impetus to developing of big power projects in the State and provide consultancy in various technical and administrative spheres of power development in the State. Notwithstanding its significance to increasing power generating capacity in the State on the basis of vast water resource potential for generating hydroelectric power, the previous Governments have not given full exposure to the corporation for reason best known to them. Strangely, the last meeting of the Board of Directors of the JKSPDC was held on June 11, 2014 in which deliberations remained somewhat confined to the Stage II of Baglihar hydroelectric power project on Chenab.
The previous coalition Government of PDP and BJP did not pay serious attention to the issue of reconstituting the Board of Directors of the Corporation. As such the Corporation remained handicapped in performing its duty. Owing to this, decisions on several power projects and issues of vital importance remained pending till date. The Governor has taken a serious note of the situation and the stalemate that has gripped the Corporation. In a bid to activate the JKSPDC, the Governor, using his powers, has reconstituted the Board of Directors for the Corporation. Headed by himself as its Chairman, the Governor has brought in top echelons of bureaucracy. The Board had become imbecile for nearly two years during which no finalization of several power projects, which had been planned to harness the very large hydroelectric potential of the State, could take place. The Board will be meeting formally in a few days from now and there are several crucial items on its agenda about which it has to take a decision. In order to ensure that pending proposals are cleared expeditiously, the Governor has directed the Commissioner/ Secretary PDD to convene meeting of the reconstituted Board as early as possible. Therefore, the priority item on the tasks ahead for the Board of Directors is to clear the pending proposals which means that work on these proposals will be started without further loss. The Board decision is pending in respect of 93 Mega Watts New Ganderbal Hydroelectric Project and 37.50 Mega Watts Parnai Hydroelectric Project. Appropriate decisions are also pending in respect of Brenwar Stage-II HEP, execution of 100 Mega Watts Parkachik-Pinikher projects on river Suru in Ladakh and 80 Mega Watts Shutkari-Kulan project on river Sind. Moreover, issues relating to construction of 24 projects under Independent Power Producer (IPP) mode, financial closures of 48 Mega Watt Lower Kalnai and 37.50 Mega Watt Parnai Hydroelectric Projects are also required to be sorted out by the Board of Directors. The Governor wants that these pending projects are taken up after bottlenecks are cleared.
The second most important item for the Board to decide in its forthcoming meeting will be about the coal block allotted to the State. The Union Coal Ministry had allotted a coal block in Odisha to J&K in July 2013 for a period of 25 years. It is more than two years and half that the State could not make use of this allotment just for want of appropriate decision by the Board of Directors that a Joint Venture Company of JKSPDC and National Thermal Power Corporation with an equity stake of 33:67 could not be floated till date despite completion of all formalities. On the one hand the entire State has been reeling under power shortage and on the other it has not been taking steps to make formal use of the coal block allotted to it which would have enabled the State to produce thermo-electric power to meet the shortage. In all probability, in the forthcoming meeting of the newly constituted Board will take a final decision of how the allotted coal block can be used for producing electricity to supplement power in the State. Obviously, once the energy source is inducted into the effort, the State will have added sufficient power for distribution.
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