Sanjeev K Sharma
JAMMU, Mar 27: Bizarre it may sound but is a truth that the Jammu and Kashmir Union Territory (UT) has badly failed to harness maximum of its 18000 MW of the estimated Hydel Power (HP) potential and has only successfully harnessed a meagre of 3540.15 MW of it till date due to which power crisis has badly hit the UT.
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Of the 18000 MW of estimated Hydel Power (HP) potential in J&K, only 14867 MW has been identified so far which included 11283 MW from Chenab basin, 3084 MW from Jhelum basin and 500 MW from Ravi basin.
More surprising is that full harnessing from these three sources-Chenab basin, Jhelum basin and Ravi basin has also not been made possible so far as from Chenab basin only 2033.05 MW hydel power is being harnessed while from Jhelum basin it is 1378.1 MW and 129 MW of the HP is being harnessed from Ravi basin.
This information was revealed in reply to a Starred Question from an MLA in the ongoing budget session of the J&K Legislative Assembly.
The reply further stated that the authorities concerned in J&K have taken effective steps to fast-track the harnessing of balance hydro-power potential by allocating the execution of Hydroelectric Projects (HEPs) to a number of agencies like National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC), joint venture companies namely Chenab Valley Power Projects Private Limited (CVPPPL) and Ratle Hydroelectric Power Corporation Limited (RHPCL) and Independent Power Producers apart from UT Government’s fully owned generation company Jammu & Kashmir State Power Development Corporation Limited (JKSPDC).”
Also 15 projects aggregating 7768 MW of HP are at various stages of implementation of which 6 projects aggregating 3063.5 MW are in construction stage, 2 projects aggregating 141 MW are at award stage and 7 projects aggregating 4563.5 MW are at DPR/clearance stage.
In order to harness hydropower in the Chenab basin which accounts for 76 per cent of the identified Hydel-potential of the UT, JKSPDC has constituted Joint Venture (JV) companies with NHPC viz., CVPPL and RHPCL.
These JV companies are constructing projects aggregating 3014 MW which are expected to be completed by 2027.
Apart from all this, as per a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) of 2021 two projects namely 1856 MW Sawalkote and 258 MW Dulhasti HEP were allotted to NHPC for development on Build Own Operate and Transfer (BOOT) basis.
There are also three large hydro-power projects in Chenab basin namely 800 MW Bursar, 290 MW Kirthai-I and 930 MW Kirthai-II which are at DPR formulation/appraisal stage.
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