KARACHI: The democratic government has added 3,400 MW in the national power grid during last three years through various short and medium term measures, said Prime Minister, Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani, here on Saturday.
He was speaking at the International Coal Conference 2011, jointly organized by Coal and Energy Department of Sindh and Sindh Board of Investment.
The Prime Minister said country was facing the overwhelming task of bridging its energy demand and supply gap that is likely to double in the next 15 years.
"Development of local energy sources, including hydel projects and the Thar coalfields, remains a high priority for the present government," he said.
He said objective of his participation in the energy moot, itself was to convey the commitment of the democratic government for the successful development of Thar Coal Project.
This project, he said, was extremely crucial as Thar holds coal reserves comprising 175 billion tonnes, certified by the world renowned companies and experts as technically feasible and viable for power generation.
"Thar coal deposit is the seventh largest coal deposit in the world and the largest at one place having potential of power generation of 100,000 mega watt for 300 years," reiterated the Prime Minister.
Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani said, the economy needed reliable, uninterrupted, and affordable supply of energy to achieve accelerated GDP growth and reduce poverty.
"Since energy is an essential driver of the country's economy, hence self-reliance in energy resources is the top priority of the government," he said.
The Prime Minister that he had only recently laid the foundation-stone of Diamir-Basha Dam, the world's highest concrete dam, that would add 4,500 MW of power and store over 8.2 million acre feet of water for the irrigation purposes.
"The mega project of Diamir-Basha Dam would be built up at the cost of around 12 billion US dollars," he said.
This project is a life-line for national economy and its construction would also enhance the life of Tarbela dam by over 35 years, he added.
He, however, regretted that power sector fell victim to politicking in the past and no integrated power policy was formulated to meet the growing energy demands of the country.
The present democratic government evolved consensus of all stakeholders at the forum of Council of Common Interests about Diamir-Basha Dam, said the Prime Minister.
He cited the project to be a bright example of the democratic way of doing business to the advantage of the country and the people without pandemonium.
"Simultaneously, many more power projects are at various stages of completion," he added.
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