Minister stresses swift power project completion
Pakistan's Federal Minister for Energy Omar Ayub Khan prepares to charge an electric car. PHOTO: AFP
The government is taking various measures to develop a more reliable and efficient power generation, transmission and distribution system in the country, said Minister for Economic Affairs Omar Ayub Khan.
Chairing a meeting of the National Coordination Committee on Foreign-Funded Projects (NCC-FFP) on energy sector on Wednesday, he said that the government was committed to tapping the immense potential of renewable energy resources including solar, wind and hydel to provide affordable and environment-friendly electricity.
During the meeting, the committee discussed 14 ongoing projects of the energy sector including power generation, transmission and distribution amounting to $3.4 billion funded by the ADB, IsDB, World Bank, France, Germany, Japan and the US.
Also speaking on the occasion, Special Assistant to PM on Power Tabish Gauhar shared the progress made by the Power Division and reiterated the commitment to removing the bottlenecks and ensuring smooth and timely implementation of development projects.
The Power Division apprised the committee that the longstanding land acquisition issue for the CASA-1000 transmission line at Nowshera had been resolved and the contractor had now been mobilised on the project site.
Similarly, significant progress had been made on land acquisition for the Dasu transmission line in Islamabad West.
It was highlighted that NTDC was working on five grid stations in Mirpurkhas, Zhob, Lahore North, Jauharabad and Maira under Asian Development Bank (ADB) financing and progress on these projects was now picking up pace.
The minister directed the relevant authorities to identify a critical path and set timelines for expeditious implementation of development projects.
He also emphasised the need for adopting latest technologies and GIS for the monitoring of development projects.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 27th, 2021.
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