Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha said on Monday that the government had been able to clear a huge power debt and that people in the Union Territory continued to get cheapest electricity than other states and Union Territories.
Addressing a press conference at SKICC, LG Sinha said the Jammu and Kashmir administration had left behind a huge debt in the power sector amounting to Rs 28,000 crore.
“We have been able to pay it back. I would also like to state that the people of Jammu and Kashmir are getting cheap electricity and there has been no increase in electricity tariffs for the last three years,” he said, adding that people have to pay for the government services they avail.
“People have to cooperate with us and pay for the electricity they use so that we can guarantee them electricity 24 hours a day,” he said, adding that metering was a successful step in preventing electricity theft.
Referring to the Union Territory’s budget passed by Parliament, Sinha said the increase in funds shows how serious the central government is about the development of Jammu and Kashmir.
On July 23, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented a budget of Rs 1,18,390 crore for Jammu and Kashmir in Parliament.
Sinha said the Jammu and Kashmir administration was determined to give a push to all sectors. “We are determined to give a big push to all sectors, be it agriculture, horticulture, power, infrastructure, etc,” he said.
He said that the Jammu and Kashmir administration had succeeded in freeing the Jammu and Kashmir Bank from its huge debts and transforming it into a profitable financial institution of the state.
