Power curtailment schedule to be followed strictly: PDD Principal Secy

Jammu, Nov 28: Principal Secretary Power Development Department (PDD) H Rajesh Prasad Tuesday said that the power curtailment schedule would be followed strictly by the department.
Yet he cautioned the consumers against power pilferage and appealed to them to use it (power) judiciously.

He was responding to media queries after chairing a public outreach programme held at the DC office complex in Doda district.
Prasad said that the power supply position, both in Kashmir and Jammu regions, was better as compared to what it was last year during the same period.

“If I talk in terms of statistics, in Kashmir region, there was peak demand of 1665 MW yesterday and in Jammu region it was 1050 MW, registering a marginal increase as compared to last year. As far as the power curtailment schedule is concerned, we will strictly follow the announced schedule. For the procurement of required power also, we have made a proper arrangement,” he said.

“Today only I spoke to the Union Power Ministry secretary. They are supplementing the power supply required by us. Power availability is there as per our requirement; the problem relates to payment for power purchase. During earlier regimes, there was a provision where purchase of power would be made and used on the assurance that the payment would be made later on. This way a liability of around Rs 31,000 Cr was created. All the outstanding dues on account of power purchase, accumulated over several years, were cleared by availing soft loans under central schemes and LPS Rules 2022,” PDD Principal Secretary said.

He said that under the present system, the advance payment would have to be paid for power purchase.

“In the present system, we (discoms) continue to grapple with high losses attributed mainly to power theft, poor metering and low tariff rates, which are a major cause of concern not only for the department but also threaten the overall efficiency of the sector. To pay interest on past liability (Rs 31,000 Cr); meet power purchase expenditure and tackle the high Aggregate Technical & Commercial (AT&C) losses, reaching 44 percent in Jammu and 58 percent in Kashmir, we request the consumers to pay their bills regularly,” Prasad said.

He said that the department had also given instructions to its officials to take strict action to check power pilferage. “We also appeal to the consumers to use power judiciously and install smart meters. We have a commitment to provide 24X7 reliable power supply to the consumers by enhancing satisfaction levels,” Prasad said.