Report denied: Chinese investment in Thar coal

KARACHI: Secretary, Sindh Coal & Energy Development Department has contradicted reports appearing in a section of press that a Chinese company has pulled out from Thar coal field.  An article captioned “China Pullout Deals Blow to Pakistan” was published in The Wall Street Journal on 30th September 2011, and carried over by some other newspapers subsequently, which gave an impression as if a certain investor company had “abandoned” or cancelled its investment because of security concerns. According to a statement issued by the Department of Coal and Energy Development M/s Kingho Group of China did not have any project nor had entered into any “pact” or “deal” with any authority for investment in Thar coal field. The factual position, according to the statement, is that in March this year an expression of interest was received from M/s Kingho Group of China. The proposal sought extraordinary concessions which could not be accepted by the evaluation committee of Thar Coal and Energy Board. The statement further says that “A mere Expression of Interest, the terms of which could not be worked out, cannot be termed as “abandoning” of an investment”.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 3^rd, 2011.