The provincial government has requested the Pakistan Business Council (PBC) to put together their entrepreneurial and financial resources to utilise the true potential of Thar coal so that the national economy can be brought on the track to progress and self-sufficiency.
Adviser to Sindh Chief Minister on Investment Zubair Motiwala has made an emphatic appeal to the members of the PBC for the development of the Thar coal project as it is the answer to the country’s energy crisis.
The federal government has approved an incentive package for the development of Thar coalfields and declared it a project of national security. The area has been given the status of a Special Economic Zone offering 20.5 percent internal rate of return to firms achieving financial closure by December 31, 2014. The coal mining equipment and machinery including vehicles for site-use are to be charged zero percent customs duty. The area has also been exempted from Withholding Tax, Special Excise Duty, Federal Excise Duty, WPPF and WWF for the initial 30 years.
In addition to these incentives, the coal-based power and mining projects in Sindh shall have the same incentives, concessions, protection and security packages as that available to the independent power producers developed in pursuance of the Power Generation Policy 2002.
The Thar coal energy project will unleash a new era of industrial growth, economic prosperity and investment opportunities that have been hampered due to the power shortfall.
Motiwala said the entire nation needs to work together for the development of Thar coal reserves on war-footing basis to pull the country out of the present power crisis. The development of strategic reserves will have multiple benefits on the economy of Pakistan including improved balance of payment position through replacing imported furnace oil with indigenous coal, he added.
