200 units free will be rolled out only after meters are installed: Omar

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday announced that the state government will be able to provide 200 units of electricity for free to consumers only if meters are installed.

He added that the scheme would likely be rolled out from March- April this year.

The Chief Minister noted 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.

CM Abdullah asserted that the power supply can be increased after under construction power projects in the territory gets completed.

Addressing a press conference, CM Abdullah said, "200 units free 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.

The Chief Minister further hoped that statehood of the territory would be restored soon, saying that the central government had promised the same and it is hoped that it won't take much time.

Mentioning that the Supreme Court has said to restore the statehood "as soon as possible," CM Abdullah stated that one year is enough for this "as soon as possible."

Addressing a press conference, the Chief Minister said, "We have been in power for more than 2 months now. It took us some time to understand the functioning of a government in a UT... It was easier than anticipated... We stand by the promises we made before the elections because of which people gave us the mandate to form the government... It will be important to us to change the status of J & K. I hope that the status of UT is a temporary phase for J & K."

"The people of J & K participated in the assembly elections in good numbers and they should get something. The central government had promised to restore the statehood of Jammu and Kashmir and we hope it will not take much time. One year ago, even the Supreme Court in its verdict had said that statehood of Jammu and Kashmir should be restored as soon as possible. Now that a year has been completed so we believe that 1 year is enough for this 'as soon as possible'. We are here to serve people and fulfil their expectations of development and governance...." he added.

Assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir were held in September 2024 in three phases. It was the first assembly polls since the abrogation of Article 370.