Srinagar, Aug 12 (IANS): J&K Lt. Governor Manoj Sinha said on Monday that the union territory administration has paid the huge power debt bill and the people here would continue to get cheaper electricity than other states and UTs.

Addressing a press conference at the Sher-e-Kashmir International Convention Centre (SKICC) in Srinagar, the Lt Governor said the J&K administration had got huge power debts worth Rs 28,000 crore as a legacy.

“We have been able to repay it. I also want to put it on record that J&K people are getting the cheapest power and there has been no power hike in the past three years. People must pay for the government services they avail. People must cooperate with us and pay for the power they use so that we can ensure 24 by 7 power for them. Metering has been a successful step to prevent power theft.”

Speaking about the UT’s budget passed in Parliament recently, the Lt Governor said the increase in the allocation shows the Centre’s seriousness towards the development of J&K.

On July 23, the Rs 1,18,390 crore budget was presented by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for J&K in Parliament.

L-G Sinha said the J&K administration is committed to the holistic development of the UT.

“We are committed to giving a big boost to all sectors whether it is agriculture, horticulture, power, infrastructure, etc., to the UT. We have successfully ensured to pull out the J&K Bank from huge debts and have turned it into a profit-making financial institution of the UT,” he asserted.

Electric power has been the perpetual woe for the people of J&K. Its paucity in summer adversely affects the lives of consumers in the Jammu region where consumers require fans and ACs to cool themselves in the scorching summer heat. In the winter months, the consumers in Kashmir need more electric power in bone-chilling cold.

The government has been saying that electric power is cheapest in J&K when compared to places outside. The people rue that its supply is barely restricted to five or six hours a day which puts the consumers to inconvenience. Ironically, the UT has huge electric power generation potential because of rivers, but lack of funds makes the construction of hydroelectric power generation projects difficult.

The result has been that the NHPC has constructed hydropower projects on rivers in J&K and the people have to buy electric power generated from their own rivers.