ISLAMABAD: The government on Friday allocated Rs 554.291 million in the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP 2017-18) for four major ongoing and two new schemes to step up exploration activities of natural resources aims at achieving self-reliance in the energy sector.

According to the PSDP, the projects approved by the Central Development Working Party (CDWP) and Departmental Development Working Party (DDWP), are being executed at an estimated cost of Rs 935.857 million without any foreign financial assistance.

Under the programme, Rs 415.807 have been earmarked to acquire four drilling rigs and their accessories for the Geological Survey of Pakistan.

While Rs 37.977 million would be spent on appraisal of newly discovered coal resources in Badin and its adjoining areas of Southern Sindh.

The funds amounting to Rs 8.992 million would be utilized in exploration and evaluation of metallic and minerals in Bela and Uthal areas of district Lasbella, Balochistan.

Similarly, Rs 3.492 million have been reserved for exploration of Tertiary Coal in the Central Salt Range of Punjab.

Whereas, an amount of Rs 88.023 million has been proposed for two new unapproved schemes for coal exploration and evaluation in Nosham and Bahlol Areas of Balochistan, and underground water survey in Quetta. The total estimated cost of the two new projects is Rs 190.033 million.

Currently, the country is facing a huge gap between demand and supply of energy, its total gas production is around four billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) against the demand of 8 bcfd of gas. The oil production stands around at 10,000 barrels per day, while its requirement is seven to eight times higher than the production.