KARACHI: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday inaugurated a 1320-megawatt coal power plant in Balochistan’s Hub city, a priority project being implemented under the multi-billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
“CPEC is a great opportunity and the present government is trying to take it forward,” PM Khan said while addressing the inauguration ceremony at Hub.
The project, being run from the imported coal with an estimated cost of $1912.2 million, was commercially operated on August 14, 2019. The groundbreaking ceremony of the plant was held in March 2017 under the previous Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) administration.
A company, China Power Hub Generation Company (Pvt) Limited (CPHGC), has been formed by two sponsors, the China Power International Holding Ltd. (CPIH) and Pakistan-based Hub Power Company Limited (HUBCO), with 74 percent and 26 percent equity proportions of the Chinese and Pakistani shareholders, respectively.
“Every kind of facility will be provided to assist the joint project,” PM Khan said while addressing the ceremony. “The joint projects under CPEC are a positive sign.”
Khan said that Thar had huge coal resources worth $150 billion which can be used for a hundred years. “The coal from Thar can be brought for its utilization to this power plant,” he recommended.
The PM said that corruption during the tenure of previous governments drove investors away from Pakistan. “We are an honest government, that’s why investment is coming back to the country,” he said, adding the Chinese also wanted to invest in the fields of fishery and agriculture. “Several Chinese companies want to invest in Pakistan.”
“China is opening modern technology centers in Balochistan,” he added.
Earlier in Karachi, Khan held separate meetings with the provincial lawmakers of his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party and their coalition partners. During the meeting, the PM said that the federal government would extend the coverage of “Ehsaas” and “Sehat Insaf” programs to interior Sindh. He also assured coalition partners of resolving their problems.
“Our government is cognizant of Karachi’s civic problems, particularly relating to transportation and waste management, and is ready to play its role as per the available resources,” he told a meeting with the PTI lawmakers, saying Karachi was “the country’s economic hub” but regretted that “previous governments ignored its problems.”
In a separate interaction with the Sindh governor, Imran Ismail, Khan reviewed various provincial issues. PM Khan didn’t meet with chief minister Sindh during his daylong visit to Karachi.
