Srinagar : Apni Party provincial vice president Jammu and former MLC Syed
Asghar Ali on Friday welcomed the government of India’s nod for execution of 850 Mega Watt Ratle Hydro Electric Power project through a joint venture between the government of Jammu and Kashmir and National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC).
In a statement issued here, Asghar said that a formal approval of the union government on development of this prestigious power project in collaboration with J&K government is yet another commitment that was made by the Apni Party and has been fulfilled in a record time.
“I applaud the Government of India for honoring our President Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari who has from day one vehemently demanded in his meeting with the Prime Minister and Union Home Minister that the execution of Ratle power project should not be handed over to
NHPC and instead J&K’s Power Development Corporation should be made a stakeholder in a joint venture mode,” Asghar remarked.
He said that the Apni Party is proud to have raised this demand in its memorandum submitted to the country’s top leadership and has been vigorously pursuing this joint venture at all during all its meetings with the union government. Asghar said that now that the union finance ministry has approved the development of this power project at the cost of Rs 5281.94 crore with J&K government as a equal partner, the move deserves to be appreciated also because the union government has also agreed to provide J&K’s equity contribution that is pegged at Rs. 776.44 crore. He said that since the decks have been cleared for the development of this Ratle power project in a joint venture, J&K government would be able to harness nearly 2500 MegaWatt of hydroelectric power potential besides generating employment for local youth.
“On the completion of this project, the J&K government will not only be able to supplement the demand-supply position of electricity in J&K but boost its overall economy through the revenue generated by this project,” Asghar opined. The Apni Party provincial vice president hoped that since all the clearances required to start the work on this project are already in place the authorities of NHPC and J&K PDC would initiate the work and complete this power project in a time bound manner.
