Jammu, March 27: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Friday said that a draft J&K hydel policy 2025 has been framed and placed in the public domain for stakeholder feedback.
In reply to a question of member Javaid Iqbal in the assembly on harnessing small rivers and providing cheaper electricity locally, Abdullah said, “Draft J&K hydel policy 2025 has been framed based on learnings from the past and outcome of the previous policies, best practices from neighbouring states have also been incorporated”.
“The draft has been put in the public domain for comments and suggestions from various stakeholders and the general public. After due consideration of the inputs, the policy shall be finalised and notified.”
The policy aims to promote the development of small hydro projects by bringing private investment into the sector, generating employment and boosting local socio-economic conditions, he said.
Under the proposed policy, the chief minister said that developers will be required to supply free power or royalty to the UT after a specified period of commercial operation, which would reduce the government’s power purchase costs and benefit consumers across the region.
“The supply of free power by IPPs to J&K reduces the overall cost of purchase of electricity and consequently benefits the power consumers of the whole UT,” he added.
Meanwhile, the government said Union Territory possesses an estimated hydropower potential of about 18,000 MW, of which nearly 15,000 MW has been identified, and that it is on a fast track to triple its installed capacity to around 11,000 MW by 2035.
Replying to a question of MLA Javaid Iqbal in Jammu and Kashmir assembly on Friday, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said: “J&K has an estimated hydropower potential of around 18,000 MW out of which around 15,000 MW has been identified”.
He said that the 3,540.15 MW — about 24 per cent of the identified potential — has been harnessed so far.
“This includes 13 projects with an aggregate capacity of 1,197.4 MW in the UT sector, six projects totaling 2,250 MW in the Central sector, and 12 projects with a combined capacity of 92.75 MW in the Independent Power Producer (IPP) or private sector”, he said.
Chief Minister said that a comprehensive roadmap for the next decade has been drawn and is under implementation, and the UT is on a fast track to triple its installed hydropower capacity by 2035.
“The roadmap includes 3,063.5 MW from six under-construction hydroelectric projects and 4,507 MW from eight projects in the tendering, award, DPR or clearance stages. An additional 100–150 MW is expected to come from private sector projects during this period”.
Consequently, the total installed hydropower capacity of Jammu and Kashmir is projected to reach around 11,000 MW by 2035, he added.
The government also said that in the backdrop of the Indus Water Treaty being kept in abeyance by the government, construction on ongoing projects has accelerated, and efforts are underway to identify potential storage projects to maximize the remaining hydropower potential.