J&K govt not to give any power project to NHPC: Omar Abdullah

JAMMU: Jammu and Kashmir, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today said that no new power project in the state will be allotted to NHPC in the future as it had not returned the earlier projects despite several demands.

"If it (NHPC) will not return the projects, we have decided not to hand over any new project to NHPC in future (in J&K)," Omar told the Legislative Council here.

Omar said it was a bold decision and added that the Dulhasti-II and Uri-II power projects allotted to NHPC earlier have been got back and will now be joint-venture projects between the J&K government and NHPC.

The Chief Minister said his government had pressed the Centre for the return of the older power projects from NHPC, but in vain.

"We took up this matter with the Prime Minister, Power Minister and other Central Authorities. The Prime Minister also tried to convince the Union Power Ministry. But NHPC is not budging from its position," he said.

Asserting that they had left no stone unturned in the process, Omar said no new power project will be given to NHPC.

On power generation, the Chief Minister said that as against the indigenous power projects of 750 MW established in the state since 1947, his government had allotted power projects of 1,500 MW in just five years since 2009.

He said more projects with capacity of 1,000 MW are being allotted by the end of this year and "a strong edifice" has been laid to generate 9,000 MW power in the state in the next seven to eight years.