Federal Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal has directed the China Overseas Ports Holding Company Ltd (COPHCL) to share the estimates of electricity consumption in the Gwadar Free Zone in the next 10 years. While chairing a meeting over the same project, he gave the direction so that work on the 300-MW coal-fired power plant for Gwadar Free Zone could be started as early as possible.

The 300-MW coal fired power plant had been conceived under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) to meet the energy demand of 150,000 people of the Gwadar Free Zone. Power shortage is causing a lot of problems for the people of Gwadar and therefore the project is high on the government’s agenda.

The completion of the project will expedite urban development in the Gwadar Free Zone. “All the projects in Gwadar under the CPEC will contribute towards the development of the region in the future,” the minister said. He added that the government was already working on a project of two transmission lines from Iran that would increase the supply of electricity in the Baluchistan province.

He said that exact estimates of electricity demand are needed to assess the long-term sustainability of the project, adding that the incumbent government had revived all the dormant projects under CPEC. He said, “Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif has already assured his Chinese counterparts that CPEC is the top priority of his government.”

“The constitution of the Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) is an example of our serious efforts,” he said. The meeting was attended by the Chairman of COPHCL Zhang Baozhong, Chairman of Gwadar Port Authority (GPA) Pasand Khan Buledi, and other senior officials of the ministry.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk