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Jammu, Feb 20 (IANS) Jammu and Kashmir has sought allocation of coal blocks from the central government to set up a pithead thermal power plant of 1,000 MW capacity to meet its energy needs, an official said Wednesday. "Jammu and Kashmir would be greatly benefited by such a power project. It will help mitigate the difficulties on power supply count in the peak demand periods," Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said in a statement. Under the pithead process, the state can build a thermal power plant at the site of the coal block, and exchange power with national energy companies for its use. The chief minister has sought the allocation of coal blocks out of the eight suitable blocks notified by the union coal ministry in Chhattisgarh, Odisha, West Bengal and Jharkhand. "Eight papers have been submitted by the Jammu and Kashmir Power Development Corporation (JKSPDC) for allocation of the coal blocks," an official said. This initiative would help to augment the state's power supply by 1,000 MW and meet the needs especially during the winter when the generation of hydro-electric projects goes down and demand rises. Jammu and Kashmir's power need is 2,400 MW and there is a shortfall of about 1,000 MW.
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