$10 bn investment in Thar coal project likely, says CM

[LRE]

$10 bn investment in Thar coal project likely, says CM



Thursday, August 07, 2008
By our correspondent

Karachi

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah has said that more then 10 to 12 billion dollars of investment expected in the Thar Coal project as many foreign investors were interested in this project to generate electricity.

He said this while addressing a press conference on Wednesday at the CM’s House and said the international conference on Thar Coal held in USA was very successful and 150 foreign and local investors of 32 countries attended.

Shah said the conference was organised by the World Bank and Poland, Australia, Korea, Germany, the US, and other countries evinced keen interest.

He said representatives of the companies would visit Pakistan very soon and hoped that the project would get started within three years and some 3,000 Megawatts (MW) of electricity would be generated within 36 months in the first phase.

The CM said the Thar Coal Energy project was around 100,000MW and once the project became operative, it would reach its peak generation capacity in a short time.

He said that the project would be linked with Keti Bandar which is s natural port from where the machinery would be imported easily.

Shah said that Thar coal reserves were the fifth largest in the world with around 175 billion tonnes of coal sufficient to cater to all the energy needs of the country for three centuries. He said the project would fulfil the future energy requirements of the country and it would also help in earning foreign exchange and providing employment to locals.

Rejecting the propaganda that the coal resources had been handed over to federal government, the chief minister said the province would certainly need support of the federal government in power generation, he added.

He said mining was a provincial subject while power generation was the domain of the federal government. He pointed out that under the Article 156 of the Constitution the electricity was not the part of concurrent list but under the rules province could generate only 50mw electricity while the federal government can generate more then 50 megawatts (MWs). He said this was legal hurdle but declared that all four provinces accepted that the coal is the subject of the provincial matter.

He said MQM ministers could be inducted in the Thar Energy Board if needed and added that the province would earn foreign exchange by exploiting Thar Coal through generation of power which could also be sold to a neighbouring country after meeting the national demand.

TALIBANISATION: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah has said that government will not permit extremism in Karachi and declared that action would be taken if any such activities were pinpointed.

He said that no illegal activities would be allowed and asked the coalition partner, MQM, to share its information about such activities.

He was asked about the MQM’s fear about the activities of the Taliban in Karachi and the chief minister said the people of the country and the PPP were liberal and democratic and neither liked extremism nor permitted any such activities.

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