How Kashmir's Hydropower Wealth Slips Through Its Fingers

By Uzma Qadir Mir

Electricity keeps a modern economy alive. It powers factories, lights up schools, runs hospitals, and touches almost every part of daily life. From farms to factories to services, nothing works without a steady flow of power. In today's world, it is a basic need for growth.

In Jammu and Kashmir, however, electricity remains a paradox.

The region has extraordinary hydropower potential thanks to its mountains and fast-flowing rivers. With over 15 hydropower plants and an estimated annual generation of more than 29 million units, Kashmir appears, at least on paper, to be energy-rich.

The Chenab, Jhelum, and Indus tributaries hold enough promise to make it one of South Asia's most energy-secure regions. But the reality is starkly different.

Kashmir suffers chronic power shortages, especially during the long, freezing winters. Blackouts are common, homes struggle to stay warm, and industries remain constrained.

Instead of exporting surplus energy, the Union Territory buys electricity from the national grid at high cost.

This mismatch between resources and outcomes is the essence of Kashmir's paradox of power.

Economists speak of comparative advantage, the idea that regions should focus on what they can produce most efficiently. For Kashmir, that advantage clearly lies in hydropower.

Studies estimate the region could generate over 20,000 megawatts of electricity, but only about 3,500 megawatts has been tapped so far. Projects like Baglihar, Dulhasti, Kishanganga, Uri, and Salal feed power into the grid.

In theory, this should make Kashmir self-sufficient and capable of exporting energy to the rest of India. But unlike Norway, which successfully turned its rivers into a surplus power economy, Kashmir still faces routine blackouts.

Most plants here are run-of-the-river projects, which produce far less electricity in winter when river flows shrink, precisely when demand peaks. Even the installed capacity of 3,500 megawatts often operates below full efficiency because of technical limits.

Transmission and distribution losses are another glaring problem, reaching 45 to 50 percent in some areas, more than double the national average of about 20 percent. This is pure economic waste.

Households rather than industries consume most of the electricity in the valley, largely because of the harsh climate and the need for heating. Urban growth and population surge have only added pressure.

MENAFN21092025000215011059ID1110089129