CPEC sufficient to meet Pakistan’s power needs: PM Shehbaz Sharif

Islamabad: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is sufficient to meet the country’s power needs.

Speaking in the National Assembly, PM Sharif maintained that Pakistan had the capacity of 35,000 MW of power generation, but due to the closure of different power-producing plants, run on gas and oil, different parts of the country were facing load shedding for the last few days.

“About 6,000 MW hydel power could be generated which was linked to the melting of glaciers and the availability of water,” he added.

He regretted that the CPEC coal-based plants and the new Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) plants could produce about 5,000 MW power due to the slow paced work by the Pakistani side.

“These (CPEC) projects include the one set up during 2019, with a capacity to generate 1250 MW, had been closed for the last four years. It could not produce the power during the previous government,” he pointed out.

He mentioned that due to CPEC, the country had the capacity to power production, but due to the slowness by Pakistani in the last few years, the projects were not fully functional.

“The new plants could not generate power due to the unavailability of gas or expensive oil. The ministries concerned apprised me that they could not finalize the import of LNG as no one was ready to supervise such projects,” the PM contended.

He underlined that the prices of LNG import had surged manifold and now, it stood around 30-35 US dollar per unit. “During 2015-16, the previous government of PML-N (Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz) had reached an agreement with Qatar for the import of LNG and if it had not been done, what would have happened now,” he remarked.

The Prime Minister also appreciated Amir of Qatar’s personal intervention to provide LNG at discounted price.

PM Sharif, however, assured that they have been trying to resolve the serious issues on priority basis. He informed that he had held a number of meetings with the ministries concerned.

The Prime Minister referred to the slow-paced construction work on Rawal Chowk flyover in Islamabad and argued that the project despite a clear deadline for its completion within two years, had been stalled, multiplying public and motorists’ woes.

He said in Punjab province, they had delivered such like projects within 72 days which earned the last Punjab provincial government run by the PML-N as ‘Punjab speed.’

Several Chinese companies also have been complaining of sluggish approach by Pakistani authorities which was causing delay in completion of the CPEC projects, including those related to energy.

PM Sharif, who took over on April 11, is known for accelerating work on development projects and has a special interest in CPEC.