'Sindh can make the entire country self-sufficient in energy'

CM announces launching of 100MW power plant in May

KARACHI: It is a day of jubilation for the people of Sindh that the provincial government is finally ready to launch a 100-megawatt power plant in May, said Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah.

He made this announcement while presiding over a meeting on Friday on the Sindh Nooriabad Power Company (SNPC) and Sindh Transmission and Dispatch Company (STDC) at CM House. Principal Secretary to the CM Sohail Rajput, Finance Secretary Hassan Naqvi, Energy Secretary Agha Wasif, SNPC Director Khursheed Jamali, STDC Chief Executive Officer Rehan Hashmi, General Manager of Technology Tariq Saeed, SNPC Project Director Syed Arif Ali and Najmmul Hassan attended this meeting.

The chief minister was told that the power plant has been tested and is operating smoothly. The testing will continue for a few more days.

He was told that the transmission line laid from Nooriabad to Karachi is 99.9% complete. Similarly, only two towers, one at Gadap and the other on the Motorway, are under construction.



"We made it. People were criticising the Sindh government for launching ambitious projects but we did it for the people of Sindh and for the people of Pakistan," said Murad. He added that people used to predict that the SNPC and STDC would end up dormant companies that would fail to deliver.

"Today not only has the SNPC installed a 100-MW power plant but the STDC has also laid a transmission line for it," he said, adding that both companies have produced results for the government and for the people of Sindh and Pakistan. "I am quite happy today," declared the CM.

He thanked the leadership of his party for supporting him and entrusting the launching of the power projects to him. The chief minister added that the solution to the national energy crises lies in Sindh. "Sindh can turn the entire Pakistan self-sufficient in the energy sector if the federal government extends its full support [to the Sindh govt]," he claimed.

The CM also congratulated his team for their success and directed them to make the necessary arrangements for organising a launching ceremony before the beginning of Ramazan.