No Electricity Tariff Hike in J-K: CM Omar Abdullah

Jammu, Nov 24 (PTI) There is no proposal to hike electricity tariffs in Jammu and Kashmir, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said on Monday, junking reports of imposition of a 20 per cent surcharge on the base power tariff for consumption during designated peak hours in the Valley.

"No electricity hike is proposed, and I do not know where this rumour started,” Abdullah told reporters on the sidelines of a function here.

Union Coal and Mines Minister G Kishan Reddy, Abdullah and his deputy Surinder Choudhary launched the first-ever auction of seven limestone mineral blocks in Anantnag, Rajouri and Poonch district here, a significant step in advancing the mining reforms introduced under the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act (MMDR Act) in 2015.

"I am also the power minister and so far no such discussion (to hike power tariff) has taken place, leave aside my signature on the claimed proposal. There is no proposal to hike the power tariff before the government," Abdullah said.

The chief minister said he has already made it clear in the budget that there will be no hike in the electricity fee. “Unnecessarily, this has made an issue.”

On the e-auction of seven limestone blocks, the chief minister referred to his speech and said he wanted to put any speculation by his “political friends” on the issue to rest that these blocks will not be given to anyone and the central government will have no control over these.

“The Union ministry of mines is assisting us so that the blocks are allotted in a transparent manner and the mining work also starts in J&K. Limestone is a very essential raw material for cement and attempts will be made that not only there will be mining work but a cement industry is also set up in the vicinity which could help creating jobs for unemployed youth,” he said.