If the government presses for production of low sulphur diesel by local oil refineries for power generation, the oil import bill can be reduced up to 30-40% in the next few years. PHOTO: FILE
Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FCCI) President Engineer Suhail Bin Rashid on Saturday said the government should produce 50% of energy from coal.
In a statement, he also called for producing 15% of energy from biofuel over the next four years.
“LNG import project should also commence soon,” he suggested and said it would help ease energy crisis in the country.
Speaking about the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline, Rashid termed it imperative and urged the government to complete work on the project on an emergency basis.
“We have vast potential to construct large dams in the country and running water can also be utilised for power generation,” he said.
Precious water resources were being wasted into sea without their utilisation, which can be used for inexpensive power generation, he remarked.
“If the government presses for production of low sulphur diesel by local oil refineries for power generation, then the oil import bill can be reduced up to 30-40% in the next few years.”
He proposed passage of legislation to bring tax-exempt sectors into the tax net and unnecessary powers of tax officials should be withdrawn to facilitate the taxpayers. Tax rate should also be minimised.
“The government should reduce non-development expenditures and stop taking loans from banks,” he suggested.
He called for promoting exports among members of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc), Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, Asean and D-8 countries, including non-traditional markets.
Speaking about the agriculture sector, he said it held immense importance in the country’s economy and high technology should be adopted to maximise farm production which could also boost exports.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 22nd, 2013.
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If it were up to Industry most of the Worlds power supply would be from coal - its' abundant and cheap. But it's also dirty and creates short and long term environmental issues which is why many countries are moving away from coal.