Thar coal: Coal extraction project launched

Total foreign exchange savings of the Thar project are estimated at being close to $50billion

Our Correspondent March 14, 2013

Thar block to generate 4,000 megawatts of electricity for the next 50 years. DESIGN: FAIZAN DAWOOD

KARACHI:

Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company (SECMC) and the Government of Sindh broke ground on Thursday to mark the beginning of a coal extraction project at Thar Coal Block-2. SECMC is a joint venture between Engro Corporation and Government of Sindh.

The project which will cost a total of $1.3 billion and take four years to complete, has received a $700 million dollar sovereign guarantee from the Economic Coordination Committee, and is expected to start later this year.

Shamsuddin A Shaikh, CEO of SECMC, said “Thar has enormous energy potential. SECMC’s Thar Block-2 can produce 4,000 megawatts (MW) for the next 50 years.

Total foreign exchange savings for 4,000 MW of Thar coal based power plants are estimated at more than $50 billion for the life of the project.” Chief Minister Sindh Qaim Ali Shah, and CEO of Engro Corporation Ali Ansari were also present at the ground breaking ceremony.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 15^th, 2013.

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COMMENTS (5)

cautious | 10 years ago | Reply

@abdussamad

@cautious: Something even more valuable than rocks in the ground – cash in hand.

If that were true then they could have developed this property long ago - the fact is that they are just like the other Thar Coal lease holders - they lack of the expertise to develop the mine themselves, can't find anyone to finance the project - so they use there political connections to try and stick it to the Pakistani taxpayers.

knockdown | 10 years ago | Reply

Ground Breaking ceremony....lolx... think it should be "Fool Making Ceremony".. Engro is already gripped in $1.2bn loan it acquired for fertilizer expansion business. All the Engro's credit lines are burst. lastly they went to public in Engro Rupiah Certificate when no bank offerred any further credit.

Mr. Ali Ansari signs a Ground Breaking ceremony.. to initiate a $1.3bn project. hehehe.. Kindly manage the debt which is already on your books.. forget about any new ventures.