Net hydel power profit

AJK likely to get Rs12bn annually as net hydel power profit

Currently, AJK gets merely 15 paisa per unit as water usage charges from Mangla dam while KP and Punjab get net hydel profit of Rs1.10 per unit from Tarbela dam and Ghazi Barotha hydel power project respectively

The federal government has decided to treat Azad Jammu and Kashmir on a par with Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in terms of net hydel power profit, and according to rough estimates, AJK is expected to get about Rs12 billion per annum.

The AJK government has prepared a summary and is moving it to the federal cabinet since the federal government has principally agreed to pay net hydel power profit to AJK, said Additional Chief Secretary for Planning and Development Department Dr Syed Asif Hussain while talking to a group of Islamabad-based journalists who visited Muzaffarabad the other day.

Currently, AJK gets merely 15 paisa per unit as water usage charges from Mangla dam; KP and Punjab get net hydel profit of Rs1.10 per unit from Tarbela dam and Ghazi Barotha hydel power project, respectively. The payment of profit from net hydel power to AJK may further increase when the Neelum-Jhelum power project is included.

Since AJK is not part of Pakistan under the Constitution, the state is not entitled to receive share from hydel profit. However, considering it as an issue of justice and equality, the federal government has agreed to give equal share to AJK on a par with KP and Punjab. Since AJK had no representation in the National Finance Commission, Council of Common Interests and Indus River System Authority, no benefit was given to AJK, he said.

Official says Islamabad will treat Azad Jammu and Kashmir at par with Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

According to Dr Hussain, AJK is significantly contributing electricity to the national grid and the entire electricity produced in AJK is transmitted to the national system. After Mangla and Neelum-Jhelum, the Patrind hydel power project is producing electricity. Two more power projects are coming up in AJK in the private sector — 140MW Bong and 84MW downstream of Mangla by Bong. Karot, Gulpur, Kohala and other power sector projects are coming up. In all, 20 hydropower projects are in the pipeline in AJK, he said.