JK registers highest power deficit, 22 times more than nat’l average

Jammu: Continuing its poor performance in balancing the power demand and supply over the years, Jammu and Kashmir has yet again topped the list of states with highest peak deficit in the first quarter of current financial year, sharing the spot with Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
The power shortage in Jammu and Kashmir was a whopping 20%, 22 times more than the all-India average of 0.9%, as revealed in the union power ministry's recent report on power supply positions in the country for the period from 1 April 2017 to 30 June 2017.
The grappling with peak deficit of Jammu and Kashmir has been a long affair, as the state has consistently performed poorer than the national average. However, there is a small but gradual reduction in deficit over the years. From 28% deficit in Financial Year 2012-13 to 23% in Financial Year 2014-15, the gap had came down to the 20% mark in past financial year that ended on 31st March, 2017, however, remaining far away from the national average of 0.9%.
The daily power supply position reports released by the Northern Regional Load Dispatch Centre (NRLDC) show that the state experiences the demand-supply gap both during peak and off-peak hours. It is also worthwhile to mention that the energy demand of Jammu and Kashmir has gradually increased over the last five years at an annual rate of about 5% to 6%.
Of the other states in the northern region, nine in total, only three were found to have a peak deficit, Uttar Pradesh experiencing gap of 4.1% whereas Delhi had only a nominal deficit of 0.4%. The other major states either did not have any demand-supply gap like Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat or the gap they had was very nominal like Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.