VoL Desk, April 06: According to recent findings by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India, the Jammu and Kashmir Power Development Corporation (JKPDC) failed to evacuate power from a hydro-electric project in Ladakh, resulting in a revenue loss of Rs 16.45 crore.

The corporation also did not impose a penalty on defaulting Independent Power Producers (IPPs) to the tune of Rs 12.60 crore, despite explicit provisions in the Hydro Policy.

The construction of two hydro-electric projects in Leh district was awarded to a contractor firm in September 2012 for Rs 217.56 crore, but the Dah project was commissioned in September 2019 with a time overrun of 36 months, and the Hanu project was under trial run as of July 2021.

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The JKPDC failed to plan the construction of a power evacuation system in parallel with the commissioning of the two projects, leading to non-utilisation of power generation of 59.37 Million Units and the consequent loss of revenue.

The Hydro Policy 2011 stipulates that failure to meet the timelines fixed for execution of projects by Independent Power Producers (IPPs) may attract a penalty, but the JKPDC did not impose a penalty of Rs five lakh per MW on defaulting IPPs.

Furthermore, JKPDC failed to execute the Implementation Agreement with the IPP, as mandated in the Hydro Policy-2011. Finally, the JKPDC failed to submit proposals to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) for obtaining Central Financial Assistance (CFA) for IPP projects completed and commissioned after the introduction of the Hydro Policy-2011.