Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto said that those who were propagating against Thar coal failed and the commitment of Shaheed Mohterma and her party succeeded. He added that 2640 MW electricity is being produced from Thar Coal.
Addressing the launching event at the Islamkot area of Thar, Bilawal said that when Federal and provincial governments work together such important project of national importance emerge.
He said that the slogan ‘Thar badlega Pakistan’ has proved to be true and now Thar has started changing Pakistan by providing cheapest electricity.
Mr Bhutto Zardari said that during his visit to power plant he met with the employees who have come here from every nook and corner of all the four provinces. “In the past, people of Thar used to go to other cities of the province and the country and now people from other provinces and cities and even from China come here [Thar] for availing employment and business opportunities,” he said.
The chairman thanked Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif for sparing time and visiting Thar for a second time.
Sindh Chief Minister speaking on the occasion said that Shaheed Mohterma Benazir Bhutto during her tenure as prime minister had made 40 agreements for launching coal mining and power generation from Thar. “Had her agreement’s agreement been honoured Thar would have been producing more than 40,000 MW electricity today,” he said.
Mr Shah told the PM that people of Thar were providing cheapest electricity to the country and in return they must be provided free of cost electricity. “The provincial is paying power bills of people of Islamkot and similar initiative may be taken by the federal government,” he demanded.
Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah said the political and economic interests of Pakistan and China were aligned for the benefit of the two nations. He termed the completion of the Thar Coal project a “success for all stakeholders” from both countries.
Chinese Charge d’Affaires Pang Chunxue said the commercial operation of the Thar coal project ranked high among other coal-fired power plants. She assured all possible cooperation by China in the field of development and progress.
Shanghai Electric Power Company Limited is the executing agency of the projects, while the Ministry of Energy (Power Division) is the coordinating ministry and Private Power and Infrastructure Board is the supervising agency.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said the power projects could be materialised as the federal government and the Sindh government “worked in harmony to facilitate the masses”.
He expressed satisfaction over the level of cooperation between Pakistan and China on carrying out development projects, which he said, had resulted in the “improvement of health and educational facilities”.
Power Minister Khurram Dastagir said the government was “committed to providing civic amenities to the people across the country”.
He said under CPEC, the development of indigenous resources was a “big step towards self-reliance” and was also valuable for foreign exchange reserves.
