Plan to market Sindh’s coal reserves introduced

KARACHI: A Rs75 million project for the marketing of Sindh’s coal reserves has been approved by the technical committee of the Sindh Planning and Development Department (P&DD). The proposal has been forwarded to the Provincial Development Working Party (PDWP) for final consent.

“Work on the project will be initiated immediately after approval from the PDWP is received, which is expected shortly,” said an official of the Sindh Coal and Energy Department.

Another member of the department explained that the province has an estimated 185 billion tons of coal resources. These deposits are located in and around the Lakhra, Sonda-Jherruck, Indus East, Badin and Thar coalfields.

Significant portions of these reserves have not yet been exploited. “If the project is successfully implemented, it will generate new employment opportunities and economic activity. It will also reduce burden on Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves,” he commented.

According to documents available to The Express Tribune, the scheme titled ‘Marketing of Coal Resources of Sindh through Road Shows, Conferences, Seminars and Trainings to Attract Potential Investors and International Financing Institutes’ has been included in the provincial Annual Development Plan for 2010-11.

The marketing project is expected to run for a period of thirty six months after inception.

Sources disclosed that once the final approval is given, a delegation will be sent across the country and abroad to participate in seminars and conferences.

The delegation would apprise national and international forums about the untapped coal resources in the province. It would also acquire knowledge of new technologies being used for coal-fired power generation, including environmentally friendly processes.

Commenting on the scope of the project, an official from the marketing department of the Sindh Coal Authority said that the main focus of the project is to attract potential investors through advertising and create awareness about the untouched coal treasure.

He said that as part of the project, the Sindh government has planned to organise road shows in various countries to draw investors for large coal-based power generation projects.

“The assistance of international financial institutions (IFIs) is essential for the development of coal fields and efficient utilisation of coal resources,” he added.

Through the road shows, awareness will be created about the potential of Sindh’s coal reserves and present utilisation of the deposits.

Efforts would be made to convince investors interested in setting up projects that would generate between 500 and 1,000 megawatts of electricity.

In addition, prospective investors would be informed about the incentives being offered by the government on foreign investment, including tax benefits.

An economist of the P&DD observed that the Pakistan was struggling to cope with the serious energy shortfall. He believed that an attempt to tap resources on such a large scale is bound to open up new vistas for macroeconomic stability through the production of affordable energy.

It was learnt that of the total amount of Rs75 million, Rs22.5 million (30 per cent) will be spent in the current fiscal year while Rs37.5 million (50 per cent) and Rs15 (20 per cent) will be utilised in 2011-12 and in 2012-13, respectively.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 29^th, 2010.