Riyaz Bhat
Srinagar, Mar 27: The Jammu and Kashmir government Friday said that the construction of ongoing power projects has accelerated in the backdrop of the abeyance of Indus Water Treaty.
According to the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), the concerned minister in the Legislative Assembly informed that “In the backdrop of the abeyance of Indus Water Treaty, the pace of construction for ongoing projects has accelerated.”
The house was also informed that “Additionally, the process for identifying potential storage projects has been a proactive approach designed to maximize the utilization of balance hydropower potential.”
Furthermore, the government also informed the house that the draft of J&K Hydel Policy 2025 has been framed based on learnings from the past and outcome of the previous policies, and best practices from neighbouring states have also been incorporated.
The concerned minister informed the house that the draft has been put in the public domain for comments and suggestions from various stakeholders and the general public.
“After due consideration of the inputs, the policy shall be finalized and notified,” the government said.
It also said that the new policy is expected to give a push to development of projects on small rivers and streams by bringing in private players into the hydropower power sector in a big way.
“This will in turn uplift the socio-economic status of the local population and create job opportunities during construction and operation of these projects,” the house was informed.
The government also informed that under the new policy, the IPP (project developer) is required to supply free power, royalty to J&K upon completion of a specified time after start of commercial operation of the project.
“The supply of free power by the IPP to J&K reduces the overall cost of purchase of electricity by Jak and consequently benefits the power consumers of the whole of UT,” the government said. (KNO)
