Chinese company sets to invest in power sector

"The DEC, after 19 years presence in Pakistan, now intends to invest in various power sectors of Pakistan such as hydel, thermal, alternate and nuclear," Vice President of the Company, Zhu Yuanchao said.

A six member delegation from China, headed by the DEC Vice President called on Chairman Board of Investment, Saleem H Mandviwalla here on Wednesday and informed him about its investment plan.

Zhu said that their company had already been working on five hydro and thermal projects in the country, including 425 MW Nandipur thermal and 525 MW Chichokimalian project, adding that the work on both projects would be started soon.

However, Mandviwalla suggested Zhu to invest in power plants for industrial areas with the capacity of 100 or 200 MW.

He said that the investment in these industrial units would solve the energy problem of the industries in the cities of Karachi, Lahore, Faisalabad and Sialkot.

He further informed that such power plants could be operated and installed without the prior approval of the government while tariffs could also be charged in accordance to the production cost and profit margins.

In this way, he added, the delay in clearance of payments from the government would also be solved.

Copyright APP (Associated Press of Pakistan), 2011