NHPC Sewa-II hydro power project begins operation in J&K

Power Minister Sushilkumar Shinde today commissioned the 120-MW hydro power project Sewa-II of NHPC in the Basholi belt of Jammu and Kashmir. NHPC''s 120 MW Sewa-II hydro power project was declared commissioned by Sushilkumar Shinde today in Jammu & Kashmir in the presence of the state Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, an official statement said.

"Dedication of the power station to the nation is important from the perspective of Jammu & Kashmir and the nation as a whole, as power from the station is being supplied to other states besides J&K," Shinde said. The power beneficiaries of Sewa-II Power Station are J&K, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Rajasthan and Chandigarh.

Shinde said the state of J&K has vast hydropower potential of which major portion is yet to be developed and added that NHPC is playing an important role in developing the potential. The project is located on river Ravi at Maska (Basholi) bordering Himachal Pradesh.

CMD NHPC S K Garg said that NHPC is associated with the development of hydropower in Jammu & Kashmir. "NHPC has commissioned four projects with combined capacity of 1,680 MW in the state and four projects with combined capacity of 659 MW are under construction," Garg said.

Garg said that J&K is getting free 13 per cent power out of the total power generated by Sewa-II Power Station. Abdullah called for starting the construction of 1,020 MW Bursar Project on a priority basis.

He said that work on the three projects in the state is to be implemented under joint venture route and should start as early as possible.

Source: PTI