Additional 660 MW electricity to be added to National grid from Thar this year: CS Sindh

KARACHI: Parliamentary Committee on China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) was told on Wednesday that additional 660 megawatts of electricity from Thar will be added to the national grid this year.

This was briefed by Chief Secretary Sindh Syed Mumtaz Ali Shah in a meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on CPEC held at the Sindh Secretariat to review the projects under the CPEC in Sindh.

Chairman Parliamentary Committee for CPEC MNA Sher Ali Arbab, CS Sindh Syed Mumtaz Ali Shah, Committee Members MNA Noor Alam Khan, MNA Sadaqat Ali Khan Abbasi, MNA Murtaza Javed Abbasi, MNA Zahid Akram Durrani, MNA Muhammad Aslam Bhootani, Federal Secretary Planning, Chairman Sindh Planning Board Wasim Ahmed, Commissioner Karachi Naveed Ahmed Sheikh and other relevant secretaries attended the meeting.

The meeting was briefed on Thar Coal, Special Economic Zones, KT Bandar project, Karachi Circular Railways, BRTs and other projects.

Briefing the committee Sindh Syed Mumtaz Ali Shah said that Thar Coal has the capacity to meet the power needs of the entire country.

He said that there is famous slogan that Thar will change Pakistan because Thar is generating electricity cheaper than all other power generation projects in the country.

In the meeting, the Chief Secretary Sindh invited CPEC Parliamentary Committee to visit Thar Coal to witness the progress.

He said that the members of the committee should visit Thar and see the development work done by the Sindh government there, roads have been constructed and provincial government had built an airport in Islamkot to facilitate the investors.

He further added that Dhabeji Special Economic Zone is another big project on 1500 acres of land, which will be used for industries. Dhabeji Economic Zone is an important project of CPEC which will boost the manufacturing and will increase exports of the country, he added.

He said that mass transit network is being laid in Karachi city from Malir Expressway, BRT and KCR which will resolve the transport problems in the city.

During the meeting, the Chairman CPEC Parliamentary Committee Sher Ali Arbab said that timely completion of the CPEC projects are in the national interest.

He said that Thar Coal, Dhabeji Economic Zone and Wind Corridors of Sindh are the big projects.

He said that the real success of CPEC is Special Economic Zones and the Gwadar.

The parliamentary committee appreciated the efforts of the Sindh government on the CPEC projects and the committee members have decided that they would visit Thar soon.