The Deputy Chief Minister Dr. Nirmal Singh today directed the officers to explore the possibility of generating power keeping in view the favorable geographical conditions of JK so that the State becomes self sufficient in power generation and the consumers get adequate supply of electricity.The Deputy Chief Minister was addressing officers during 2nd Meeting of Management and Finance Sub-Committee of Jammu and Kashmir State Power Development Corporation Ltd (JKSPDC) here today.Minister of State for Power Syed Farooq Ahmad Andrabi, was also present.Chief Secretary Mr. B B Vyas, Commissioner/Secretary Finance Mr. Navin Kumar Choudhary, Commissioner/Secretary PDD Mr Dheeraj Gupta, MD JKPDC, Shah Faesal and other senior officers were present in the meeting.Dr Singh directed the officers to come up with a comprehensive framework of generating electric power so that the demands of the people are met. He said they should synergize their efforts in order to make the state self sufficient in terms of electricity generation and transmission.
While referring to the initiatives being undertaken in the power sector, the Deputy Chief Minister said that the officers should ensure timely completion of various programmes being implemented. He said that a special component has been provided under Prime Minister’s Development Package for ensuring that the sector gets requisite flip and thrust.Dr Singh directed the officers to ensure that the work on ongoing power projects is speeded up so that the capability and capacity of the state to generate power gets the requisite boost and makes us self sufficient. He said that a measure component of our plan is being spent on the purchase of power from various agencies and by making ourselves self sufficient we can divert the funds for other developmental initiatives.The meeting was informed that an amount of Rs. 1068.51 crore has been earmarked for the capital works and Rs.236.92 crore for Operation and Maintenance (O&M) works of these projects.The meeting also discussed the implementation of various new hydroelectric projects and other issues related to human resource and implementation of new projects.