J&K Govt seeks to harness 20,000 MW power potential of state

The Jammu and Kashmir government today said it would explore all possibilities to harness the 20,000 Mega Watts power potential of the state with the help of private players.
"The Government will explore all possibilities of harnessing 20,000 MW power potential of the state with the help of private players. Special impetus will be given to harness the rich micro hydel potential available for which new survey will be carried out soon," Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh said.
Singh, who holds the charge of Power, Housing and Urban Development Departments, said the government was committed to ensure greater improvement in power generation, its transmission and distribution.

He said the PDP-BJP coalition government would like to see the state becoming self-reliant in power generation and increasing energy generation capacity to such an extent that it is able to sell it to rest of the country.
Referring to the return of NHPC power projects to the state, he said the issue has already been taken up with the Centre and the state government would actively pursue the case.
On streamlining the functioning of the department, he said that a transformer bank will be set up to meet the requirements of transformers, on account of frequent cases of damages being reported in this regard.

He said the government would also initiate steps to phase out the old and frequently damaged transformers and replace them.

He said the Power Ministry has taken serious note of frequent damage to transformers due to use of sub-standard and underweight material in the workshops and overloading of transformers due to power theft.
The deputy chief minister said the government was contemplating stringent measures to prevent such things from happening.
Speaking on the demand for grants of Housing and Urban Development Department, he said that special focus will be given to address the problems of urban population by creating better civic amenities in the cities and towns.

He said Srinagar and Jammu cities were witnessing unplanned growth of colonies and the Government was actively considering revising the Master Plan of these cities to improve urban planning.
He said that development of Srinagar and Jammu as smart cities was a priority agenda of the Government and work on the projects WOULD start soon.
"In the second phase Government also contemplates to develop Anantnag and Katra as smart cities," he said.
He said that the government is keen to hold early Urban Local Bodies election in the State. "The government is deprived of Central funds in absence of such local self government," he said.