Khan said that the equity portion of financing for the project is ready, while the debts will be financed from outside. A lot of lenders had shown keen interest and were amenable to loaning money for the project because the KESC, which will buy all output from the mine, is a trustworthy company, he added. Referring to a feasibility study Oracle recently concluded, Khan remarked that the report had underlined the technical and economical viability of the project itself as well.
He said that Oracle had signed a memorandum of understanding with the KESC to develop a 300 MW mine-mouth power plant at the site. Khan said that the company was also undertaking a comprehensive environment and social impact assessment in compliance with both local and international regulatory requirements.
Speaking on the occasion, Dagha said that the mine has been leased for 30 years, extendable for more if needed. Responding to a question, he said that the first project cycle for the installation of a transmission line between Thar and Matiari has been completed and will cost Rs20 billion. To another question, he said that electricity from coal will cost 10 to 11 cents per unit, compared to oil-fired power plants that produce at 22 to 25 cents per unit.
Khan expects initial development work to be initiated by late 2012 and the mine to be in production by 2014.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 14th, 2012.
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Another dream and Illusion !!! Who in their right mind will invest money in this Country at present? Sort out the Law & Order, Infrastructure, Security Issues etc, before starting to dream !
A nation not known for the rule of law will find it very difficult to attact investments
This article is pretty much a repeat of one run recently and implies that Oracle has $600+ million and is ready to go - but that's hogwash. Oracle is a special purpose company which has one asset - a proposed mining lease on a tract of the Thar Coal property. It published it's feasibility study on it's website earlier this month and if my recollections are correct it clearly indicates that the study has much work to do before it's bankable and even the agreement with KESC has to be worked out. How they moved from that to what's implied in the above article is beyond me. Further - based on how Balochistan treated the Canadian/Chilean consortium on the copper mine I wonder whether serious international investors are going to consider any Pakistani mining lease bankable.