New Delhi,(Samajweekly) Union Minister of State Jitendra Singh on Saturday said that Jammu and Kashmir’s Kishtwar is all set to emerge as north India’s major “power hub” generating around 6,000 MW of electricity after the completion of the ongoing power projects.
Singh, who was on an extensive tour of the remote and peripheral areas of the hill district of Kishtwar, said that 6 to 7 major Hydro power projects have come in the region in a short span of 9 to 10 years during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s tenure.
He pointed out that the largest project is Pakal Dul with a capacity of 1,000 MW.
Its estimated cost, as of now, is Rs 8,112.12 crore and expected timeline of competition is 2025.
Another major project is Kiru Hydroelectric project with a capacity of 624 MW.
The estimated cost of the project is Rs 4,285.59 crore and the timeline in this case is also 2025, he said.
The Minister further informed that at the same time, 850 MW Ratle project has been revived as a joint venture between the Centre and UT of J&K.
In addition, the existing Dulhasti power station has an installed capacity of 390 MW, while Dulhasti II Hydroelectric project will have a capacity of 260 MW.
Singh said these projects will not only augment the power supply position thereby making up for the shortage of power supply in the UT of J&K, but the huge investment being made for construction of these projects will also boost direct as well as indirect employment opportunities for the local people.
Talking about the other development projects in the region, Singh said that before 2014, road travel time from Jammu to Kishtwar has reduced from over 7 hours in 2014 to less than 5 hours now.
Similarly, he said, Kishtwar has come up on the aviation map of India and has been sanctioned an airport under Centre’s UDAAN Scheme, which nobody had ever imagined.
Similarly, Jitendra singh said, three new national highways including Khilani-Sudhmahadev Highway, a series of Degree Colleges, mobile towers enroute Machail Yatra and other remote areas have also come up during the Modi government, he said.
