Excelsior Correspondent
Jammu, Jan 31: Former Union Minister, Prof. Chaman Lal Gupta flayed the opposition of National Conference (NC) and others to the measures being taken for execution of certain major hydel power projects through NHPC and other central agencies.
In a statement Prof. Gupta said that J&K State is having over 20,000 Mega Watts of hydel power potential but the State Government on its own could not harnessed even 1000 Mega Watts during the last over 70 years.
“This was retarding not only the progress and prosperity of the State but was also proving a great burden on the exchequers as to meet the local requirements of the energy,” he said adding that the State has to purchase electricity from outside for which at least eight percent of the total budget is drained-out due to the failure of State Government to exploit its own resources.
During the past one decade alone the State has spent about Rs 50,000 crore to buy electricity and if the local resources had been tapped, not only this amount could be saved but also utilized to execute at least five big hydel power projects to achieve self sufficiency.
Prof. Gupta pointed out that out of big twenty thousand hydel potential, the J&K on its own has exploited on just about 700 Mega Watts and the NHPC over 1500 Mega Watts, out of which the State is not only getting 12 percent free of cost energy and large sums of royalty every year as per the agreement but it was strange that with separatist outlook, attempts are being made to create hurdles in the execution of new projects.
He pointed out that the adjoining Himachal Pradesh there is almost equal to J&K with hydel power potential of 20,000 Mega Watts and it has exploited more than 10,000 Mega Watts of energy though NHPC and on its resources.
Thus, the Himachal Pradesh has not only gained self sufficiency but also having earnings by selling energy to add to its financial resources.
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