Facing criticism, Jammu and Kashmir Government has given a quiet burial to the proposal to handover State-owned Sewa-III hydropower project to National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) for operations, sources told KP on Tuesday.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) – Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) Government in its earlier stint had made the offer to the power giant NHPC to operate and maintain the project located in Kathua district, following the visit of power Minister Nirmal Singh and his Commissioner/Secretary to the project site on January 4 this year.
KP had exclusively reported about the development which had led to criticism of the PDP-BJP coalition that has incorporated return of power projects from the NHPC as one of the key features in its ‘Agenda of Alliance’, a governing formulae agreed to by both the parties for running the State.
“The proposal (to hand over the project to NHPC) has been shelved. There is no progress on the issue,” said a senior Government official.
A source said as per the preliminary discussion between authorities from the State Government and NHPC, a team of the Government of India owned Corporation was scheduled to visit the site to finalize the taking over of the project.
Executive Director NHPC S Kalgoankar said there has been no progress on the issue after the initial communication between the State Government and the Corporation.
“There were some issues,” said the NHPC Director.
An official however said the Government decided to shelve the move as it put the State Government in dock.
The 9-MW Sewa hydropower project, set up on Ravi River in Jammu, close to Himachal Pradesh border, was commissioned in 2002 and is located downstream the NHPC owned 120-MW Sewa-II. The project (Sewa-III) with three units of 3-MWs each became defunct in 2013 after a breach in its canal due to floods in Ravi.
Though the issue of restoration of the project was discussed on several occasions by the PDC and State Government during past three years, nothing substantial has been done to repair the project that has resulted in substantial financial loss to the power deficient Jammu and Kashmir.
“The delay has not only cost in terms of energy and financial loss but it is also a sheer example of government’s lackadaisical approach towards the energy generation sector,” the official said.
Sewa-III to NHPC: Govt shelves proposal
