ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is heading to revive the country's economy with a $21 billion electricity plan, which is a centerpiece of his economic aspiration.
More than 10,000 Chinese workers are now building at least 10 partly Beijing-financed energy projects across Pakistan that are set to grow the country's energy output by 60 percent within two years in the first major boost to supply in two decades, according to an article published in Wall Street Journal.
The article mentions that when Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif came to office in 2013, rolling power outages across the country were plunging homes and businesses into darkness for up to 12 hours a day.
Sharif's government plans to inaugurate a nuclear plant this month and a pipeline network in January that will carry large-scale gas imports upcountry.
"Never in the history of Pakistan has there been such a big package of electricity plants in the pipeline," said Syed Akhtar Ali, in charge of energy at the Planning Commission Ministry.
"Pakistan's economic growth has risen to almost 5% annually under Mr. Sharif and his government set a 7% target for the years ahead. That, his government hopes, will boost the moribund private sector, reduce unemployment and provide youth with more alternatives to extremism," the article said.
The government's energy plan depends on China to a large extent, which is translating its long-term strategic ties with Pakistan into an economic partnership.
The article mentions that China was financing many plants as commercial investments, however to expedite projects, the Pakistani government was funding some power stations including three gas-fired plants in Punjab. The eventual aim is to more than double Pakistan's current output of around 16,000 megawatts.
The plan is to add 10,000 megawatts of the new China-backed infrastructure, a mixture of coal, gas and hydro electricity, by early 2018 at a cost of $21 billion.
About activities at Karachi's Port Qasim, the article states that a $2 billion coal-fired plant is taking shape. After only 1.5 years under construction, one 400-foot high cooling tower is up and the second is almost complete.
The hulking metal frames for the boilers are in place and a jetty for imported coal is taking shape. Around 4,000 people worked on the site, 24 hours a day-half of them Chinese workers, the article added.
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