Pakistan would import 500MW of power initially, to be enhanced to 1,200MW at a later stage. DESIGN: TALHA KHAN
ISLAMABAD:
As the World Bank (WB) has offered to finance the feasibility study and transmission line to import 1,200 megawatts (MW) of power from India, Pakistan has sent the draft of the initial power trade deal to its eastern neighbour despite opposition from various quarters.
Sources told The Express Tribune that a pre-feasibility study was completed to identify the routes for electricity import.
“Now, the World Bank has also offered to finance a feasibility study along with the (installation of) transmission line to import 1,200MW power from India,” a senior government official said, adding that a draft of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was handed over to Indian authorities in a recent meeting held in New Delhi.
He said India would respond to Pakistan after going through the draft of initial deal. Pakistan would import 500MW of power initially, to be enhanced to 1,200MW at a later stage. The plan could be implemented within a year by laying a transmission line, he added.
“The estimates of required finance will be known once a feasibility study is done,” he said, adding that only the route of transmission had been identified in the initial study.
Different quarters in Pakistan criticise the proposed deal with India which had dragged Pakistan into international courts over water issues.
At a time when the international court allowed India to divert water from the Neelum-Jhelum River for the Kishanganga Dam in Indian-controlled Kashmir, Pakistan was going to sign an initial deal for import of electricity from New Delhi to overcome a crippling power crisis.
It must be noted that the Kishanganga Dam is likely to hurt the 900MW Neelum-Jhelum hydropower project being set up in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).
New Delhi had told Islamabad that it faced problems in interconnection of power; however, Pakistani officials insisted such issues would be resolved later and the two sides were now set to sign an MoU for electricity trade, he added.
Sources said preliminary discussions with India were underway and tariff matters still needed to be finalised. “However, the MoU will be an initial commitment to India,” the official said, adding the government of Pakistan was also working on other power import projects like Casa-1,000MW and electricity purchase from Iran.
Pakistan is currently importing 35MW of electricity from Iran to meet requirements of Gwadar, while work on increasing it by 100MW is going on. The two sides signed an agreement on the project in 2007.
Pakistan also has another project in the pipeline for import of 1,000MW of electricity from Tajikistan under Casa-1000 programme. Feasibility report of the project has been finalised and work is expected to be completed by 2016.
The country’s power production ranges between 10,000MW and 16,000MW against total installed capacity of 21,000MW. Globally, most countries generate 80% of their power requirements from their installed infrastructure, but Pakistan’s generation capacity only meets 65% of the needs due to old plants, poor maintenance and circular debt.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 20th, 2014.
COMMENTS (78)
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I can Design the Transmission line.
@Sobriquet Non technical person do not bother whether it is MW or KW, surely he was talking about KW.
India is our worst enemy.. Buying electrixity from India means that we are allowing them to build dams on our rivers to make Pakistan a desert land
Punjab (India) is slated to become power surplus this year . We get the coal from far away Bihar , i believe Pakistan has coal so pay for the electricity with coal ( barter system ) does not seem such a bad idea ?
Doubleww Tee Aaaf
@Prabhjyot Singh Madan: You claim that a 200 megawatt generator is rotting in your basement. Either you have a basement bigger than a football field or you don't know what a megawatt is. 200 megawatt is two lakh kilowatt-hours, which is enough to power over one lakh average-sized room air-conditioners!
@Tani: Indian punjab is different from pakistani punjab. Its india and not punjab when it comes to a matter of crisis.
..make sure pakistan pays upfront..before releasing any electricity .to them.!!
Pakistan can't rely on India for anything. We have been backstabbed and hated by this nation for 66 years. Not only Pakistan, but all of India's neighbors are sick and tired of India's constant scheming.
India and Pakistan can mutually benefit so much just by increasing trade and helping each other out. People from both countries would rather take cheap shots at each other and live in miserable conditions than moving forward for mutual betterment.
Appears Pakistanis have not trusted their scientists to generate electricity from djinns, but listened to 'jahil' Dr. Pervez Hoodboy and decided to use electricity generated using laws of physics.
So pakistan's fuse is in the hands of india.
@Pacifica: "Basically India is allowed to build run of the river dams on the western rivers if Pakistan does not object. " Wrong! It is not conditional on Pakistan's "no-objection". That is why Pakistan has lost all cases it has taken to arbitration. Now, even diversion of waters for economical production of power has been recognized as a right of India (Kishenganga Project) so long as Pakistan receives the same amount of water in a river where it enters Pakistan.
@Citizens of Delhi and Indian metro areas ! Some comments from Delhi person that they dont have power cut. That is amusing others. While I live in Bikaner, remote desert border city in Thar. We dont have power shedding either. I can compromise one hour electricity to neighbors !!!
@Shameel Faraz I remember that Pakistan imported Railway Engines from China, and regretted. Then started thinking to import from India. China ka maal reliable nahi hai yaar.
I am from Mumbai, we consume more power than Pakistan.. No load shedding but jst bank account shedding by reliance..
@Raju
I dont even remember the last time my area in Delhi had a power cut
Good for both India and Pakistan.
@Pak Lover: " Can you define “bad quality electricity”???????" +++++++++++++++++++ That easy' low or high Voltage and incorrect frequency.
"Different quarters in Pakistan criticise the proposed deal with India which had dragged Pakistan into international courts over water issues."
Isn't it the case that every one of the disputes over the Indus Waters Treaty has been started by Pakistan? This sentence should really read: "Different quarters in Pakistan criticise the proposed deal with India, whom Pakistan had dragged into international courts over water issues."
Basically India is allowed to build run of the river dams on the western rivers if Pakistan does not object. So Pakistan objects to ALL of them, takes them to the World Bank tribunal, arbitration, The Hague, wherever it can, just to slow them down and add to the costs of building the dam. The fact that all these dams get built anyway shows that there really is nothing for Pakistan to object about - its all geopolitics, and the convenience of blaming India after having failed to implement proper water management.
@Raju: This news is dated back to 30th May 2013. In South India, the Kundamkulam nuclear reactor has commissioned and started commercial production already. By 2020, India's installed nuclear power generation capacity will increase to 20,000 MW ( 2.0×1010 Watts, which is 20 GW).[50] As of 2009, India stands 9th in the world in terms of number of operational nuclear power reactors.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclearpowerin_India
MOU.........in real terms means NOTHING........just a ploy by politicians and bureaucrats to bolster their image.
@indian reader I live near noida. Please read this FT article on power shortages in the Delhi metro area.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f5bc2d72-c8f1-11e2-9d2a-00144feab7de.html
There is acute shortage of power in India, though Indian Punjab is surplus. It is estimated that more than half of India's 1.2 billion population do not have access to electricity, despite its recent economic boom.
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-23730036
No one objects to the culture of India we follow. The cosmetic, clothes, medicine, films from India available in the market. So if we get electricity from India, what's the harm. Let us in both the Countries try and live as good.neighbors.
In defense of raju. There can be places where rigging of meter takes place. It happens with the help of kanda. A independent board like we have in Calcutta is a must but people like stealing electricity. Cesc is very strict. Calcutta I'd safe from the scourge of load shedding. Rab rakha
I live near Nodia. Read this article about power crises in NewDelhi by the Financial times.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f5bc2d72-c8f1-11e2-9d2a-00144feab7de.html#axzz2wUQU6Dzj
I am from haryana India, we got 24/7 hours electricity here becoz i m living in city but if we talk about villages there is around 4-3 hours of shortage exist Which is not a big deal for ppl who living in villages..
power crisis is so huge in pakistan.... that LAHORE faces 22 hour LOADSHEDDING......pathetic situation.....nuclear pakistan....:)
@Raju: You are a Pakistani in disguise. There is no 6 hour powercut any where India and there is surplus electricity generated in most states.
@Nabeel: 12 hours a day... ? only possible if they are living in towns of UP,bihar ...... coz these two states literally beg for power from the central grid........they were responsible for the 2012 blackout............however still crisis in pakistan is much larger with so many violent protests and burning property....this electricty will help avoiding violence....
@lahori: nothing of that sort what lahoris face....i mean 22 hour a day......sarkar gir jayegi agar aisa hua.....samjhe???:D
@sensible: india's energy crisis is all coz of subsidy and power loss....the day govt stops giving milllion of farmers free electricity ...problems solved....we are sure pakistan would pay its bills hence giving power to "NUCLEAR POWERLESS" pakistan is much better than those farmers....even the rich farmers dont pay their bills....and u know 70% of indians reside in rural area......850 million............
I dont understand, why did we not accept China's offer? Was that story even real? If so, then not accepting from a friendly country and rather accepting it from supposedly our enemy is beyond my comprehension.
It is a matter of distribution of electricity through electricity grid which is a problem here. I live in Calcutta and we have load shedding once in 4 months. I would request my Pakistani and indian brothers to check out my statement. West Bengal Is a energy surplus state and we sell excess electricity to Orissa. The 200 megawatt generator is rotting down In our apartments basement. We have to use it sometimes so it it does not become junk. Rab rakha
@sharabi: @Raju: In which area?
Just outside NCR. In Karachi.
Alas... There was a time it was the other way around!
Along with Electricity you can also import Railway engines, coaches. Also can avail medical facilities in India. And your actors, singers, comedians can get work here in India.
@Raju: sir i am sure ur not from outskirts of delhi.
@raj kafir. Companies of Punjab and state government of indian punjab are supplying electricity not central government of india. So at time of hostility, central government cannot dictate or has no control,jurisdiction over state's private companies or state government of punjab issues ok? And I don't think Punjab government will cut supplies and suffer huge losses in investment they made to supply electricity to Pakistan. India in principle has always been against sanctions and deeds that have direct effect on common people of other country. So cutting off electricity by india is just childish to think so.Btw you can cover these points in treaty and make in law abiding by india and remove all these fear. Let trade flourish and friendship grow plz.
WTF I dont understand how indians are exporting electricity when their people are suffering from load shedding as well?
In 1999 Nawaz Government was negotiating with indian government on selling electricity to india. In 2014 Nawaz government is negotiating with indian government on buying electricity from india. Who says Nawaz Sharif has not changed??
Will India supply 'halal' electricity? Else how can un-Islamic electricity be consumed ??
I live in ncr ( outside Delhi ) there is always electricity . May be half an hour load shedding a month . Let's not spread rumours ! And yeah it ofcourse is meera in d video ha ha kidding lol @Raju:
now thats what i called shame .. shame to each and every single leader of PML N and supporters.. Puri duniya main in ko INDIA hi mila .. pathetic . rather than investing money on dams and all that infact they can get this electricity from Azad Kashmir and even from tajakistan ...
Poor
Zaid Hamid : India has stripped Indus water of its electricity, So u cannot generate by building dams. Dont u know this. Read the papers ie Pakistani papers properly.
In Stead of selling electricity , Indian gov should encourage small scale non-polluting industries like food processing and sell them at cheap price . A country which sells electricity, water, raw materials can't progress .
@Raju - Sometimes the issue isn't so much an issue of production or capacity rather an issue of distribution. Not an uncommon predicament.
India is playing a smart game here. India itself has energy crises and wants to export electricity to Pakistan? Basically, India wants Pakistan to be dependent on India like electricity, water and other necessary commodities which will allow India in the long run to hold a diplomatic edge over Pakistan regarding all matters between India and Pakistan.
Wow a great step towards self sufficiency by Nawaz Government
Good Step for Pakistan, Devastating for India. @Raju In which area? Aa a Resident of NCR, i can not testify that.
@zaid hamid: Can you define "bad quality electricity"???????
Do you need Railway Engine, coach ? Do you need medical facilities ? Do you need Electricity ? Do you need vegetables ? Do you need employment if you are actor, singer or comedian ? Do you want to enjoy Eid without restrictions (example, no pillion rider ?) , do you want to have subsidy for Haj ? and few more things ! then India is your destination or India can provide solution !
@Raj Kafir: @Raju: sometimes its better giving electricity to pakistan than transmitting thousands of kilometers which may cause huge transmission loss.
Now that is a good move!!! but how will you passify Zaid Hamid and Hamid Gul types?
This will only happen in your dreams !
Well well. My friends from India tell that they also suffer from prolonged blackouts and have to live without electricity for up to 12 hours in summers.
Wonder why would India want to sell us the electricity when its own people also need it !!
What a stupid idea. I suffer 6 hours of power cuts to my home which is outside of Delhi and they are going to give electricity to Pakistan. We don't have sufficient electricity for our own use.
Well done Team PMLN! Get rid of power shortage in next 3 to 4 years. Trade and other energy projects with India will immensely benefit both countries, especially Pakistan.
It will be bad quality electricity. Moreover importing is not a solution, Increasing electricity generation capacity is.
Imagine Pakistan needs 18 runs in the final over, Lala scores a six on the first ball, before the second ball is bowled India sheds the power supply. Pakistan wins the match, but 20 crore Pakistanis are deprived off to see the victory on TV due to non availability of Indian Bijli in Pakistan.
Pakistan should not import electricity from India. India should make it available to her own consumers.
Since when India have surplus electricity. Quote Unquote " India and Pakistan are enemies of each other " Depending on an enemy country will be suicidal. India can load shed any time to teach a lesson to her enemy.
But then this would be against the ideology and identity of Pakistan which is to give India thousand cuts and hate it for the sake of it.
Can't believe that Pakistan has to now import the Electricity from India.
We really should not be dealing with the devil. The money we pay them will be used by RAW to destabilize our country.
There goes our water.. and our power... the PMLN has done worst than what PPP had done...
India itself faces a power crisis
This is a conspiracy by India to sell us electricity that would be rigged to electrocute innocent Pakistanis.
Do not accept the electricity if it is not halal.