The Punjab government has decided to allocate 5,000 acres of land for private solar power projects in the Cholistan which will be allotted to solar power sector investors at a nominal rate of one dollar per acre per year for a 20-year lease.
Out of 5,000 acres of land, 2,500 acre land is situated in Maroot, Bahawalnagar and the rest of 2,500 acres land is located on Din Garh Road, Yazman, Bahawalpur.
Provincial Minister for Energy Sher Ali Khan told a delegation of China Power International, Beijing, headed by Wang Zhi Yin on Friday.
The minister informed the delegates that two grid stations of 66 KW each were already working in the vicinity of Maroot and Yazman under the national power transmission system which could be easily linked with the proposed coal fired power plants.
He said the Punjab government was ready to offer investment in hydro power generation, solar power generation and establishment of bio-mass fired power plants along with wind power plants and coal-fired power plants on the basis of build-operate-transfer basis, build-own-operate-transfer (BOOT) basis and on the basis of build-own and operate (BOO) also.
Six coal-fired power projects are already in the pipeline which would generate 420 MW of electricity, the minister added.
He requested the Chinese investors to consider installation of solar power projects in Cholistan. The government will provide them with the required land on lease under soft conditions besides giving total relaxation in sales tax on imported machinery which is not manufactured locally, he added.
He apprised the delegation of a 500-KV grid station and the coal fired power plant working at Rahim Yar Khan and said the Punjab government was negotiating with the federal government to collaborate in developing an energy corridor from Gadani to the Karachi costal area to facilitate inline transportation of imported coal to different areas of Punjab where the land required for-coal fired power generation will be leased on the market rate.