Development

1000 MW transmission line set to quell Kashmir’s power shortage

JK Govt. requires more time to receive additional electricity, says infrastructure yet not ready

Srinagar: A Mumbai-based electric transmission development company, Sterlite Power, is completing the 1,000 MWs transmission line, spread over 400 kilometres from Jammu’s Samba to Kashmir’s Sopore, by the end of this month. The project will bring un-interrupted electricity supplies to the power starved state.

However, government sources reveal that it would take state a little bit more time to augment its infrastructure to cope with the additional power.

“We don’t have the system yet in place that has the capacity to receive additional power. It will take more time for the state to equip itself for receiving supply from the transmission which is supplying additional 1000MWs of power to the state,” government sources said.

For the project in question, the JK government could find itself in a tight spot as the central government is keen on implementing the project in the state without any delay.

“The central government has invested 4200 crore rupees in the project so that the people in Jammu and Kashmir could have an uninterrupted power supplies throughout the year. However, if the state government fails to implement it on time, it will lead to disgruntlement,” says an official.

The power requirement in the State is met from the allocated share from central generating stations, and the state’s own power plants and power purchased from market.

The peak demand of J&K during the current year (April to October, 2017) was 2,768 MW and the demand met was 2214 MW, thus, leaving shortfall of around 554 MW (i.e 20%). At present, around 70% of the energy requirement is being met from Central Generating Stations in the State.

The allocation of power to J&K from Central Generating Stations (CGS) is 2,397 MW. The supply from CGS includes power stations of NTPC, NHPC, SJVNL, NPCIL, NLC, etc.

Pertinently, the Prime Minister in the year 2015 hadv pledged to bring power to 18,452 unelectrified villages within 1,000 days in his August 2015 Independence Day national address. As of Oct. 31, electricity had reached 15,218 or 82 percent of those villages.

In Jammu and Kashmir, 100 out of 134 villages, encompassing 270,000 households, lacking electricity were still waiting to be connected.

 

(With inputs from KNS)

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