GADANI: China has agreed to set up four coal-fired power plants at Gadani Power Corridor in Balochistan, the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said during his visit on Thursday afternoon to the site of the corridor‚ which is being named as Gadani Power Park.
The Prime Minister said the government of Pakistan would establish the first plant at the park to attract local and foreign investors.
The park envisages establishment of eight coal fired power plants with aggregate capacity of 5200 MW but the Prime Minister desired that its capacity should be enhanced to ten plants generating 6600 MW.
He also gave instructions for expeditious implementation of different phases of the project as the country cannot afford to lose any time in view of the grave energy crisis.
The Prime Minister said the project would cost billions of dollar and would create economic and employment opportunities for the backward and far-flung region of Balochistan and also Sindh.
Mian Nawaz Sharif said we will have to plan for the next 20 to 25 years to meet demands of 50‚000 MW of electricity. For this purpose‚ we will need four or five power parks like the one being established at Gadani.
He said a proposal is being considered for establishment of an LNG terminal at the power park.
The Prime Minister said yesterday the country produced 16170 MW of electricity which was highest in the history of the country. However‚ the demand has also increased and the gap remains at about three thousand megawatts as was the case a few months back.
He also asked the Sindh Chief Minister to expedite work on utilization of Thar Coal.
He desired that both mining and setting up of coal-fired plants should be undertaken simultaneously so that no time is waste.
The Prime Minister said the proposed six-lane Lahore-Karachi motorway project would also help accelerate the pace of economic development in different areas of the country.
Meanwhile‚ Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif has directed all the provinces to make arrangements to reserve at least two percent seats in medical‚ engineering and other professional institutions and universities for students hailing from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas.
He said this quota should also be ensured in institutions in Federal Capital.
The Prime Minister issued these directions with the objective of enabling the mainstreaming of FATA students‚ so that they could return to serve in some of the most backward areas and also perform as agents of change and catalysts of modernization.
