"There is a lot of interest for Thar coal project from foreign investors. Several leading companies from China, United Kingdom, and Hong Kong are in contact with us showing their interest in coal mining and power generation", said Chairman Sindh Board of Investment Zubair Motiwala on Tuesday.
He said the closing date for the tender is November 24, 2011.
Referring to his recent visit to Russia Motiwala said that Russian companies are keen for mining in Thar coal field and generating power. "We have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the government of St Petersburg, Russia for investment in Thar coal.
"I will go to Russia again to sign another MoU with Stalin Grad government for coal mining and power generation in the coming month", he added.
Motiwala maintained that things are moving faster in matters relating to Thar coal than the routine pace of government work.
He said currently several international and local companies are engaged at various stages of work on Thar coal.
Global Mining of China is working on Block 1 of Thar coal field while British company Oracle Mining is engaged in Block 4, and Cougar Energy of Australia, Al-Abbas Power, Sindh Government's gasification project under Dr Samar Mubarak Mand and joint venture of Sindh Government and Engro Energy are busy in other blocks.
Replying to a question about infrastructure, he said that PC-1 for laying a railway track to connect Thar coal field has been ready with the Railway while the air strip will be completed by next year.
He said federal minister Syed Naveed Qamar and provincial minister Murad Ali Shah are supervising provision of basic infrastructure facilities including provision of fresh water, grid network and construction of effluent plant for Thar coal field.
A senior government official said that as much as 200,000 MW of electricity can be generated from Thar coal for 300 years.
He said NTDC has engaged a Canadian firm Lavalin as a consultant to prepare a feasibility for laying 1200 kVA transmission line under ADB funding to transmit 10,000 MW of electricity from Thar to national grid.
Similarly, the government is working on plan to provide 100 cusecs of water per day to Thar coal field at a cost of Rs 27 billion.
Pakistan Railways Advisory Consultancy Services (PRACS) to prepare feasibility for laying a broad gauge railway track to link Karachi to Thar coal field via Badin.
In addition, new roads will be constructed at a cost of Rs 3.7 billion to facilitate transportation of heavy machinery to the site on public private partnership basis, he added.
The official pointed out that the lignite value of Thar coal ranges between 4,000 to 10,000 Btu. If the ash and water are removed, its value can be enhanced to 12,000 Btu. We can also convert this coal into 10 to 12 hydrocarbon products including gas, diesel and tar.
He said the share of coal in world's total electricity generation is 38 percent while it is negligible in Pakistan. In countries like USA, Australia, Germany, China, the power generation through coal is ranging between 50 to 78 percent. On the contrary, Pakistan with 185 billion tons of coal reserves in Sindh, produces only 50 megwatts from source.