THARPARKAR/ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif today inaugurated a 330 MW power plant under CPEC Block II. Hubco power company in district Tharparkar has completed the project.
The prime minister said that the production cost of the electricity will be around Rs3.5 per unit and it will be sold for Rs10.
He claimed that there is enough coal in Thar to produce electricity for 300 years. Pakistan has around 175 billion tons of coal reserves, he said.
He lamented that despite efforts, we have not been able to extract gas from the project.
PM Shehbaz claimed that these plants won’t contribute to pollution. PM Shehbaz was given a detailed briefing about the CPEC projects by Chief Minister of Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah. The Chief Minister briefed that CPEC is a game changer for Pakistan’s economy.
He said that generating electricity from Thar Coal required an extensive road network, bridges and an airport.
The Chief Minister said that the Sindh government built the infrastructure of Thar by spending 750 million dollars.
He informed that, according to the geological Survey of Pakistan, Thar coal has 175 billion tons of coal reserves and it has a total of 13 blocks, we were working on Block II and Block I.
He further informed that, in 2014, work was started on a coal mine power project under CPEC and in 2015, the federal government issued a sovereign guarantee for the project.
The Chief Minister said that, the power generation capacity of this power project will increase to 2640 MW by the end of this year.
He said that 23 schools have been established in the Tharparkar with the profits of Thar coal projects, in which 4061 students are studying; besides a 120-bed hospital has also been established in the district for the betterment of the locals.
