Liabilities on account of power purchased from power companies has crossed staggering Rs 11,000 crore, draining Jammu and Kashmir’s financial resources.
Official sources informed Greater Kashmir that PowerDepartment owes Rs 7,000 crore to outside power supplying companies, while asthe power bill of Jammu and Kashmir Power Development Corporation is pegged atestimated Rs 4,000 crore, taking the total tally of power liabilities to overRs 11,000 crore.
A senior government official informed that financial problemof Jammu and Kashmir is compounded as the outside companies charge 12 to 15percent interest on the outstanding amount. “No financial institution wouldcharge such high interest rates, but we have to pay the companies,” said anofficial adding, “The liabilities have accumulated over the years.”
“These outstanding companies don’t mind J&K defaultingin paying their bills on time as they see it as an investment because theirmoney is secure with government and at the same time they are taking interestat higher rates,” he added.
He said that last year J&K had kept a provision of Rs6,000 crore in the budget for power purchases while as the revenue generated byway of collection of power tariff was just Rs 2250 crore.
The erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir had incorporated aseparate corporation namely J&K Power Trading Corporation in order to givea professional touch to power purchases from outside J&K.
Chief Engineer of the Corporation, Er Muhammad Yusuf, saidthey have taken up the issue of liabilities with the administration.
In order to meet power demand, J&K enters intoarrangements with NHPC, NVVN, Punjab, Haryana, Chhattisgarh and also arrangesPower Trading Corporation (PTC), NTPC, Vidhyut, Vyapar Nigam LTD, besidesoverdraws from Northern Grid.
According to official figures, the estimated hydro powerpotential of the J&K is 20,000 Megawatts (MW). Out of the identifiedpotential, 1211 MW have been exploited in State Sector and 2009 MW in CentralSector.