Chinese firm ready to assess power production capacity

G-B ministers says first phase of census in the region starts from March 15

GILGIT: A Chinese company has offered to conduct a feasibility study to assess power production capacity of Gilgit-Baltistan.

This was stated by Information and Planning Minister Iqbal Hasan and Minister Works Dr Muhammad Iqbal during a news conference in Gilgit on Monday.

“The Chinese company has offered to carry out the task free of cost in all the 10 districts of G-B,” said Iqbal Hasan. “It will give us an opportunity to determine the total capacity of the region in terms of power production and we will be able to share the documents with others [agencies and departments].”

He added that G-B was rich in minerals and efforts were being made to transfer the subject of minerals from the G-B Council to G-B assembly.

“So far, the subject of minerals was in the domain of G-B Council. But it will soon be under G-B assembly’s domain.”



The minister for works said that a memorandum of understanding (MoU) had been signed between the company and the region government recently on developing the feasibility.

G-B, he said, had immense potential to produce power. According to a rough estimate, more than 40,000 megawatts of power can be produced in the region.

The works minister hoped that tourism would flourish in coming years as the government was investing in infrastructure and other projects.

He added that during his recent trips to the UAE and USA, he interacted with people and told them about G-B and its culture. Moreover, several groups had shown their willingness to visit the region.

The works minister said that in the future, G-B would draw maximum benefits from the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) for which the region served as a gateway.

“There is massive potential in G-B and CPEC would usher us into a new era in the future.”

Head count

The census in Gilgit-Baltistan would be conducted in two phases commencing from March 15, the ministers said.

Iqbal Hasan explained that the first phase of the headcount would cover five districts of G-B. It would start on March 15 and would end a month later on April 15.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 14^th, 2017.