The J&K power department has failed to recover Rs 9321 crore arrears from different government departments and consumers in the Union Territory.
In response to a question by National Conference MP, HasnainMasoodi, the Union Minister of State (Independent charge) for Power, New andRenewable Energy, RK Singh informed the in Lok Sabha that governmentdepartments, both J&K and central, owe Rs 5935.04 crore arrears to powerdepartment, including Rs 1864.20 crore to Kashmir Power Distribution CompanyLimited (KPDCL) and Rs 4070.84 crores to Jammu Power Distribution CompanyLimited (JPDCL).
The reply states that industrial and commercial consumersowe Rs 1462.33 crores – Rs 581.81 crore to KPDCL and Rs 880.52 crore to JPDCL.
Another Rs 1924.34 crore arrears are pending with domesticconsumers including Rs 828.29 crore of KPDCL and Rs 1095.95 crore ofJPDCL. According to officials, failureon part of authorities to realise the power dues was causing huge losses toexchequer.
The liabilities on account of power purchased from outsidepower companies have crossed staggering Rs 11,000 crore.
An official said power department owes Rs 7,000 crore tooutside power companies while as the power bills of J&K power departmentwas pegged at estimated Rs 4,000 crore, taking total liabilities to over Rs11,000 crore.
According to official figures, the estimated hydro powerpotential of J&K is 20,000 MW, of which about 16475 MW have beenidentified. The total power potential comprises 11283 MW in Chenab basin, 3084MW in Jhelum basin, 500 MW in Ravi Basin and 1608 MW in Indus basin.
Of the identified potential, only 3263.46MW (20%) has beenexploited so far, comprising 1211.96 MW in state sector, 2009 MW in centralsector and 42.5 MW in private sector.