{"id":212620,"date":"2026-08-24T12:02:10","date_gmt":"2026-08-24T12:02:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/indiancrimenews.com\/?p=212620"},"modified":"2026-08-24T12:02:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-24T12:02:10","slug":"jammu-kashmir-news-power-tariff-hike-was-a-compulsion-omar-defends-6-83-revision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indiancrimenews.com\/?p=212620","title":{"rendered":"Jammu & Kashmir News : \u2018Power Tariff Hike Was a Compulsion\u2019, Omar Defends 6.83% Revision"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mushtaq Pulwama state chief<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Srinagar<\/strong>, Aug 24 : Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday defended the Jammu and Kashmir Government\u2019s decision to raise electricity tariffs, describing the hike as a \u201ccompulsion\u201d necessitated by mounting losses in the power sector, while pointing to higher tariff increases approved during previous governments. Omar was reacting to criticism over the 6.83 per cent average tariff increase approved by the Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission (JERC), which will come into effect from September 1. The Chief Minister said the government had increased electricity rates by only around six per cent after four years and argued that the rise was necessary in view of the increase in the cost of oil and other commodities as well as the financial losses being incurred in the power sector. \u201cWe increased the rate of electricity by only 6 per cent. That too after four years,\u201d Omar said, adding that the government had increased the tariff \u201cas much as we could\u201d while keeping the burden limited.<\/p>\n

He also hit back at critics, saying previous governments had increased electricity rates by more than 14 per cent and that a 15 per cent tariff increase had been approved four years ago. \u201cThis was our compulsion. We are not celebrating by increasing the rate of electricity,\u201d he said. On the National Conference\u2019s election promise of 200 units of free electricity, Omar said the promise was aimed at providing free electricity to the poorest people and had no connection with the tariff revision. \u201cThe rates of electricity won’t increase. We said that we will give 200 units to the poorest people for free. There is no connection between the price of electricity and this scheme. We will continue to provide free electricity to people,\u201d he said. The government had earlier announced a scheme for providing 200 units of free electricity to Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) households, linked with the PM Surya Ghar initiative. However, the Chief Minister\u2019s justification based on power-sector losses comes against the backdrop of a substantial amount of unpaid electricity dues owed by government departments, public sector undertakings and security establishments.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

According to figures placed before the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly by Omar Abdullah in April, total outstanding electricity dues stood at Rs 3,747.35 crore, with Rs 2,310.22 crore pending with KPDCL and Rs 1,437.13 crore with JPDCL. Among the major defaulters were the Public Health Engineering Department with dues of around Rs 1,300 crore, Irrigation and Flood Control Department with over Rs 580 crore, CRPF with around Rs 296 crore, the Army with around Rs 197 crore and the BSF with over Rs 11 crore. The Home Department had outstanding dues of over Rs 223 crore, while municipal bodies collectively owed more than Rs 241 crore. Even the Power Development Department itself had outstanding electricity dues of more than Rs 107 crore. The figures have added another dimension to the debate over the tariff hike, as the government seeks to improve revenue realization from the power sector while a substantial amount of electricity revenue remains locked in unpaid institutional bills. The revised tariff does apply to government departments as well. Under the new tariff structure, government departments using LT metered supply will be charged \u20b98.30 per kVAh, along with applicable fixed charges.<\/p>\n

For ordinary metered domestic consumers, meanwhile, the revised energy charge will be \u20b92.45 per unit up to 200 units, \u20b94.20 for 201\u2013400 units and \u20b94.60 above 400 units, with the fixed charge rising to \u20b910 per kW per month. The new rates will remain applicable from September 1, 2026, to March 31, 2027, unless modified or extended by JERC. The government as per the news agency Kashmir News Trust has argued that the tariff revision is necessary to narrow the gap between the cost of supplying electricity and revenue realization. JERC has approved a combined Annual Revenue Requirement of Rs 10,275.72 crore for JPDCL and KPDCL for 2026\u201327, while the utilities had projected a substantial revenue gap. The Commission has also relied on government subsidy and grant support to prevent the entire revenue gap from being passed on to consumers through tariffs. The latest defence by the Chief Minister comes amid growing political opposition to the tariff revision, with the PDP, Apni Party and other political groups holding protests in Srinagar against the increase.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mushtaq Pulwama state chief Srinagar, Aug 24 : Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday defended the Jammu and Kashmir Government\u2019s decision to raise electricity tariffs, describing the hike as a \u201ccompulsion\u201d necessitated by mounting losses in the power sector, while pointing to higher tariff increases approved during previous governments. Omar was reacting to criticism over …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_joinchat":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-212620","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-1"],"yoast_head":"\nJammu & Kashmir News : \u2018Power Tariff Hike Was a Compulsion\u2019, Omar Defends 6.83% Revision - Indian Crime News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/indiancrimenews.com\/?p=212620\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Jammu & Kashmir News : \u2018Power Tariff Hike Was a Compulsion\u2019, Omar Defends 6.83% Revision - Indian Crime News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Mushtaq Pulwama state chief Srinagar, Aug 24 : Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday defended the Jammu and Kashmir Government\u2019s decision to raise electricity tariffs, describing the hike as a \u201ccompulsion\u201d necessitated by mounting losses in the power sector, while pointing to higher tariff increases approved during previous governments. Omar was reacting to criticism over …\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/indiancrimenews.com\/?p=212620\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Indian Crime News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-24T12:02:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/indiancrimenews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-08-24-at-5.30.13-PM.jpeg?v=1787572923\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"774\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Indian Crime News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Indian Crime News\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/indiancrimenews.com\\\/?p=212620#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/indiancrimenews.com\\\/?p=212620\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Indian Crime News\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/indiancrimenews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/74be71771a0de0b53dd28b78cec7244d\"},\"headline\":\"Jammu & Kashmir News : \u2018Power Tariff Hike Was a Compulsion\u2019, Omar Defends 6.83% Revision\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-24T12:02:10+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/indiancrimenews.com\\\/?p=212620\"},\"wordCount\":696,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/indiancrimenews.com\\\/?p=212620#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/indiancrimenews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-08-24-at-5.30.13-PM-1024x734.jpeg\",\"articleSection\":[\"\u092c\u094d\u0930\u0947\u0915\u093f\u0902\u0917 \u0928\u094d\u092f\u0942\u095b\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/indiancrimenews.com\\\/?p=212620\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/indiancrimenews.com\\\/?p=212620\",\"name\":\"Jammu & Kashmir News : \u2018Power Tariff Hike Was a Compulsion\u2019, Omar Defends 6.83% Revision - Indian Crime News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/indiancrimenews.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/indiancrimenews.com\\\/?p=212620#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/indiancrimenews.com\\\/?p=212620#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/indiancrimenews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-08-24-at-5.30.13-PM-1024x734.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-24T12:02:10+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/indiancrimenews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/74be71771a0de0b53dd28b78cec7244d\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/indiancrimenews.com\\\/?p=212620#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/indiancrimenews.com\\\/?p=212620\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/indiancrimenews.com\\\/?p=212620#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/indiancrimenews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-08-24-at-5.30.13-PM.jpeg?v=1787572923\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/indiancrimenews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-08-24-at-5.30.13-PM.jpeg?v=1787572923\",\"width\":1080,\"height\":774},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/indiancrimenews.com\\\/?p=212620#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/indiancrimenews.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Jammu & Kashmir News : \u2018Power Tariff Hike Was a Compulsion\u2019, Omar Defends 6.83% Revision\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/indiancrimenews.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/indiancrimenews.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Indian Crime News\",\"description\":\"An Online News Channel of India\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/indiancrimenews.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/indiancrimenews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/74be71771a0de0b53dd28b78cec7244d\",\"name\":\"Indian Crime News\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/0a5d78d581009fd6c69428853cb4ed1aa55610b04dd69febf35d2cb118f79d4d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/0a5d78d581009fd6c69428853cb4ed1aa55610b04dd69febf35d2cb118f79d4d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/0a5d78d581009fd6c69428853cb4ed1aa55610b04dd69febf35d2cb118f79d4d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Indian Crime News\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/indiancrimenews.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/indiancrimenews.com\\\/?author=6\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Jammu & Kashmir News : \u2018Power Tariff Hike Was a Compulsion\u2019, Omar Defends 6.83% Revision - Indian Crime News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/indiancrimenews.com\/?p=212620","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Jammu & Kashmir News : \u2018Power Tariff Hike Was a Compulsion\u2019, Omar Defends 6.83% Revision - Indian Crime News","og_description":"Mushtaq Pulwama state chief Srinagar, Aug 24 : Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday defended the Jammu and Kashmir Government\u2019s decision to raise electricity tariffs, describing the hike as a \u201ccompulsion\u201d necessitated by mounting losses in the power sector, while pointing to higher tariff increases approved during previous governments. Omar was reacting to criticism over …","og_url":"https:\/\/indiancrimenews.com\/?p=212620","og_site_name":"Indian Crime News","article_published_time":"2026-08-24T12:02:10+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1080,"height":774,"url":"https:\/\/indiancrimenews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-08-24-at-5.30.13-PM.jpeg?v=1787572923","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Indian Crime News","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Indian Crime News","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/indiancrimenews.com\/?p=212620#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/indiancrimenews.com\/?p=212620"},"author":{"name":"Indian Crime News","@id":"https:\/\/indiancrimenews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/74be71771a0de0b53dd28b78cec7244d"},"headline":"Jammu & Kashmir News : \u2018Power Tariff Hike Was a Compulsion\u2019, Omar Defends 6.83% Revision","datePublished":"2026-08-24T12:02:10+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/indiancrimenews.com\/?p=212620"},"wordCount":696,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/indiancrimenews.com\/?p=212620#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/indiancrimenews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-08-24-at-5.30.13-PM-1024x734.jpeg","articleSection":["\u092c\u094d\u0930\u0947\u0915\u093f\u0902\u0917 \u0928\u094d\u092f\u0942\u095b"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/indiancrimenews.com\/?p=212620","url":"https:\/\/indiancrimenews.com\/?p=212620","name":"Jammu & Kashmir News : \u2018Power Tariff Hike Was a Compulsion\u2019, Omar Defends 6.83% Revision - Indian Crime News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/indiancrimenews.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/indiancrimenews.com\/?p=212620#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/indiancrimenews.com\/?p=212620#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/indiancrimenews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-08-24-at-5.30.13-PM-1024x734.jpeg","datePublished":"2026-08-24T12:02:10+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/indiancrimenews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/74be71771a0de0b53dd28b78cec7244d"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/indiancrimenews.com\/?p=212620#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/indiancrimenews.com\/?p=212620"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/indiancrimenews.com\/?p=212620#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/indiancrimenews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-08-24-at-5.30.13-PM.jpeg?v=1787572923","contentUrl":"https:\/\/indiancrimenews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-08-24-at-5.30.13-PM.jpeg?v=1787572923","width":1080,"height":774},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/indiancrimenews.com\/?p=212620#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/indiancrimenews.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Jammu & Kashmir News : \u2018Power Tariff Hike Was a Compulsion\u2019, Omar Defends 6.83% Revision"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/indiancrimenews.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/indiancrimenews.com\/","name":"Indian Crime News","description":"An Online News Channel of India","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/indiancrimenews.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/indiancrimenews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/74be71771a0de0b53dd28b78cec7244d","name":"Indian Crime News","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0a5d78d581009fd6c69428853cb4ed1aa55610b04dd69febf35d2cb118f79d4d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0a5d78d581009fd6c69428853cb4ed1aa55610b04dd69febf35d2cb118f79d4d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0a5d78d581009fd6c69428853cb4ed1aa55610b04dd69febf35d2cb118f79d4d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Indian Crime News"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/indiancrimenews.com"],"url":"https:\/\/indiancrimenews.com\/?author=6"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/indiancrimenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212620","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/indiancrimenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/indiancrimenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indiancrimenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indiancrimenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=212620"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/indiancrimenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212620\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":212622,"href":"https:\/\/indiancrimenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212620\/revisions\/212622"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/indiancrimenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=212620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indiancrimenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=212620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indiancrimenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=212620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}