The State of Jammu and Kashmir has been bestowed with enormous potential of harvesting and generating hydro power and Government will tap the same to make the State rich in power generation. Presently the State mainly is dependent on the import of power from the Central grid and other States and major portion of the State budget is being spent on the power purchase to meet the domestic requirement.In order to tap the power potential, the State Government has launched some medium, small and mini hydel projects across the State which would in near future cater to the ever increasing energy demands of the consumers. As a pre-cursor to this initiative of generating electricity, 330 MW Kishanganga HEP is likely to be commissioned during 2016-17, which would augment the present electric scenario of the State to a large extent.With a view to upgrade the existing power infrastructure in the State, the Government has launched a comprehensive initiative to replace all the lived up wires, poles and conductors through a well-knit mechanism under the active supervision of the District Development Commissioners in all districts. Sustained efforts are also being made to assess the actual requirements to improve the system, and in the meantime, an amount of Rs.
One crore per constituency has been authorized in addition to the already allotted Rs. one crore to each district on annual basis to improve the power infrastructure. The initiative would go a long way in addressing the major issues, concerning, besides the demands being raised by the public representatives at different foras and also with the concerned department.The Power Development Department will also ensure availability of 24x7 power to all registered consumers by December 2019 with the implementation of Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS) and Deen Dayal Upadhay Gram Joyti Yojana (DDUGJY). A road map/action plan has already been formulated by the Department in consultation with the Union Ministry of Power and its agencies like REC, CEA, PFC, BEE and a MoU has been signed. All un-electrified hamlets would be covered under DDUGJY and the process has already been set in motion to ensure that it is completed within the stipulated time frame.The DDUGJY stands approved by the Union Ministry of Power with an outlay of Rs. 616.11 crore. Besides this an amount of Rs. 444.50 crore has also been approved by the Union Ministry under IPDS for 84 towns for Jammu and Kashmir. These steps would go a long way in augmenting and upgrading the transmission facilities and also ensuring that the consumers living in both rural and urban areas get the requisite amount of power energy for their daily needs.