NHPC no less than East India Company, drain of wealth happening from J&K: Congress' Tariq Hameed Karra
Jammu and Kashmir Congress president Tariq Hamid Karra on Saturday said that National Hydroelectric Power Corporation is no less than East India Company and is draining the resources of the J&K, besides taking undue consultancy charges from the regional entities.
Karra, while speaking on the budget presented by the Omar Abdullah led government in J&K Assembly, also accused the NHPC of inappropriately taking Rs 300 crore as consultancy charges over the last ten years from the regional entity.
“A corporate entity which can be considered nothing less than the East India Company…I am talking about NHPC. Post the commissioning of 900 MW Baglihar power project in 2008 which was independently executed and commissioned by state arm JK Power Development Corporation, NHPC came back as Chenab Valley Power Projects (CVPP) — a joint venture between JKSPDC (49% stake), NHPC(49% stake) & PTC (2% stake),” said Karra in the assembly.
The Congress leader said that following the abrogation of special status of J&K in 2019, the NHPC bought the 2 percent stake of PTC in 2021 and subsequently made CVPP its subsidiary. “Why even after this joint venture was created, CVPP still pays consultancy charges to NHPC worth Rs 30 crore every year,” Karra asked. The Congress leader said that calculating it over a period of ten years it appears that NHPC has ‘siphoned at least Rs 300 crore’ from J&K via CVPP.
“Why are the posts of JMD & Chairman in CVPP lying vacant while they had to be filled by J&K cadre officers. Why none of these projects is