Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday said that the state government will be able to provide 200 units of electricity for free to consumers only if meters are installed.
Replying to questions during his first formal interaction with reporters in Srinagar, Omar Abdullah said the scheme promised during the assembly elections by the NC would likely be rolled out from March- April this year.
He said that the consumption of electricity in the state is more than the supply and J&K’s Aggregate Technical and Commercial (AT&C) losses are already high, nearly 50 per cent.
He asserted that the power supply can be increased after under construction power projects in the union territory get completed.
“200 units free power will be rolled out only after the areas are metered. How else would you measure the units? When we roll out this scheme in March-April, all can benefit from this scheme.”
“The electricity load that we have is much more than what we are supplying. The sooner our power projects which are being constructed here finish, would be able to supply more electricity. We can bank it in summer and then supply it in winter. Our AT&C losses are huge, nearly 50%. Some states have pushed it to less than 10%. We have to try and push it to less than 20%,” he added.
Omar said that his government has been given mandate for five years by the people and the election promises will be fulfilled during that period.
The NC government will release its report card on completion of the first 100 days in office, he added.
