Rs55 billion solar tube well project unveiled

PM Shehbaz rolls out scheme for Balochistan with 70% funding from Centre

QUETTA:

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday announced a major scheme stipulating solarisation of 28,000 tube wells in Balochistan. The project aims to provide farmers with cheap electricity.

The prime minister, who arrived in the provincial capital on a one-day visit, was received by Governor Jaffar Khan Mandokhail, Chief Minister Mir Sarfraz Bugti and provincial ministers.

The prime minister said the project would cost Rs55 billion, with the federal government covering 70 per cent of the expenses. He expressed confidence in Chief Minister Bugti’s leadership and projected implementation within three months.

Lamenting that the burden of debt has mortgaged the future of nation’s generations, PM Shehbaz said it will be a matter of great shame if Pakistan has to once again return to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for another loan after three years.

“To free ourselves from this cycle of debt, the federal and provincial governments, along with the relevant institutions, must work together,” the premier said while addressing the signing ceremony to launch a significant initiative aimed at solarisation of agricultural tube wells in Balochistan on Monday.

“If we make this collective effort, future generations will be grateful. However, if we fail to make tough decisions, we will find ourselves seeking assistance from the IMF once again,” the prime minister said.

Highlighting the fine details of the programme, PM Shehbaz said that 28,000 tube wells in the province were connected to the power grid but were only active for short intervals during the day — barely two hours — affecting farmers.

“These tube wells in Balochistan should be running all day, but they only run for a few hours because people don’t pay their bills. The federal government shoulders that burden,” he lamented.

According to Shehbaz, the state lost between Rs70 billion and Rs80 billion in revenue and paid Rs500 billion to cover costs because of non-payment of bills.

Calling the Rs500 billion sum a “subsidy”, he bemoaned that it was “going down the drain”, adding that the province could progress greatly if the amount was invested in its development,

We will disconnect tube wells from the electrical grid and convert them to solar power,” the premier reiterated.

Farmers will use them, paying minimal electricity costs. Solar is the world’s cheapest power source, he emphasized, noting farmers would receive solar panels, with feeder connections severed.

“Farmers were in utter loss getting only two hours of electricity every day. Now they will get affordable electricity to power their tube wells and that loss [of Rs80b] will be gone,” Shehbaz added.

The prime minister said that CM Bugti had committed to implementing the programme in three months, recognising that it was “no small task”.

“If you can get it done, we will recognise your efforts,” he said. “I’ve never seen any CM follow up as much as this one.”

The prime minister further said: “In three months, when these [solar panels] will be installed, power theft and non-payment will be gone.

“This is the reform agenda, as Nawaz Sharif intended. This is our view and of the Balochistan government’s.”

However, he reiterated that the responsibility for implementing the project lay with the Balochistan cabinet. “I am not here to lecture you,” he said, before recommending the cabinet to pursue “large procurement” of panels for the scheme.

“Here’s an example,” he said. “Suppose you get solar panels from three or four companies for this project and pay a certain amount of money. Instead of getting panels from those companies, subsidise the farmers to buy them. The price difference will be night and day,” he explained, adding that he would leave the decision to the cabinet.

The prime minister hailed the project as revolutionary and said it would bring about “deep-rooted structural change”. “The Kissan Programme will provide much cheaper electricity and we will work with all provinces,” he added.

PM Shehbaz also highlighted that there were still one million tube wells nationwide that operated on oil. “We import the oil for these tube wells for $3.5 billion […] that’s Rs700 billion.

“In our next phase, we will transition those 1m tube wells away from oil,” the premier said, describing it as “a quantum leap in the national interest”.

CM Bugti also briefed PM Shehbaz on ongoing development projects as well as the state of provincial administration and law and order.

The prime minister stressed the elected representatives of the party from Balochistan to play their role in development of the province to ensure well-being and prosperity of the people.

“The PML-N believes in the public service, the elected representatives of the party should focus their attention on the welfare of the people,” the prime minister said while talking to a delegation of PML-N Parliamentarians from Balochistan which called on him here.

Also, a delegation of National Party Monday called on Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif and discussed matters of mutual interest. In the meeting, they discussed the overall political situation of the province.

Member Provincial Assembly Balochistan Rehmat Saleh Baloch and former Senator Mir Kabir Muhammad Sahi were part of the delegation, a press release issued by the PM Office said.