ISLAMABAD – A parliamentary committee was informed on Monday that 14 coal fired power plants based on Thar coal, with a combined generation capacity of 6000 MW, will be installed by 2025.
The feasibility study of 1,320MW Keti Bunder coal fired project will be finalised by January 2018 and formal developmental work on the project will be started on January 2019, official of the Sindh Energy department said while briefing the Senate Standing Committee on Planning, Development and Reforms here. The meeting, which was held here under the Chairmanship of Senator Col (retd) Syed Tahir Hussain Mashhadi, discussed coal power project in Sindh and Quetta Mass Transit train project.
Briefing the committee on Keti Bundar project, Energy Department Special Secretary Rashid Hussain Qazi informed that four power plants based on Thar Coal would be constructed at Keti Bundar site for which feasibility study was underway. The feasibility of the project will be completed in 10 months and would cost Rs320.06 million. The project will be started with the help of consortium and funds will be obtained from China, he added. The Sindh chief minister has already approved the preparation of PC-I of the project, he said. The feasibility of the project will be completed in 10 months while the financial close of the project will be achieved after six months of the completion of feasibility study, he maintained.
The meeting was informed that the feasibility on the Keti Bundar project would be finalised by January 2018, Rashid said. He said that the components of the study would include strategic environmental social impact assessment, 1,320MW power general based on Thar Coal, power evacuation requirement, railway line from Thar Coal field (Islamkot) to Keti Bundar, construction of Coal Jetti, and related infrastructure.
He said that to transport coal from the Thar coal field to Keti Bundur, a 341 kilometer long railway line would be constructed. The meeting was informed that the project was a part of the multi-billion dollar China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and it is hoped that by 2025, the project would be completed. Replying a query, the Sindh official said that they are constructing coal jetty on Kety Bundar.
It was informed that by 2025, as many as 14 power plants based on Thar Coal would be producing 6,000MW electricity in the country. Senator Karim Khwaja said that in 1993 the Benazir government has conducted feasibility study of Keti Bundar and asked the Sindh energy department to bring it to the next meeting of the committee. It was also decided by the committee that a letter will be written to the Ministry of Defence and will be asked to share the information regarding Keti Bundar with the Sindh chief minister.
On Quetta Mass Transit Project, the meeting was informed that the project was included in the CPEC in 6th Joint Coordination Committee held in Beijing last year. As per details, a 48.5 kilometer broad gauge track would be reconstructed. Single track would be constructed from Spenzand to Sariab while a double track would be constructed from Sariab to Kuchlak, the official informed. The project will be completed in three years and Rs70 per ticket will be charged from passengers. The committee showed reservation of the cost of the ticket saying it is expensive.
The meeting was further informed that the preliminary agreement has already been signed between the Balochistan government and China Communication Construction Company (CCCC). Funds for the project, on three percent interest rate, will be obtained from China, the official added. The PC-I for the project will be revised. However, framework agreement on the project is yet to be signed while the Balochistan government is planning to conduct feasibility exploring of option of both light rail and bus. The committee directed for the acceleration of pace of work on the feasibility study of Mass Transit project Quetta. The meeting was attended by Senators Mohsin Aziz, Karim Ahmed Khawaja, Agha Shahzaib Khan Durrani, and Nawabzada Saifullah Magsi.
Source The Nation