No new project to NHPC till it hands over earlier ones: Omar

No new project will be sanctioned to NHPC till it hands over the Uri, Salal and Dulhasti power projects to the state, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said today.
"Let me tell them (NHPC) categorically that we will not give any project to NHPC alone in future unless it agrees to give back the projects we have asked for," Omar said while addressing a public gathering at Kishtwar today.
"We are strongly and vehemently advocating the return of Uri, Salal and Dulhasti power projects back to the state by NHPC to compensate the losses we are regularly incurring due to the Indus Water Treaty," he said adding, NHPC is putting hurdles in the state's efforts.

NHPC has taken full advantage of these projects and it is now their duty to return these projects for the state's economic betterment without further delay, he said.
"I am hopeful that Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi will use their offices to make NHPC return the power projects to the state as early as possible," he added.
He highlighted the state's potential to produce substantial quantity of hydel power and said, the economic prosperity of Jammu and Kashmir lies in harnessing its hydel power potential and utilising it for industrial, agricultural and other purposes, besides selling the surplus.