- 1,263MW project to be completed in 26 months with 810MW to be produced in 14 months
LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Shehbaz Sharif and Prime Minister (PM) Shahid Khaqan Abbasi laid the foundation stone of the 1,263 megawatt (MW) Punjab Gas Power Plant in Haveli Bahadur Shah near Jhang.
The project will be completed in 26 months and in the first phase, 810MW of electricity will be produced in 14 months.
Addressing the ceremony, CM Shehbaz said that load-shedding in the country has been eliminated due to untiring and round-the-clock efforts of the PML-N government. He added that industries, farms, schools, hospitals, offices and houses are getting electricity due to the completion of the power projects.
The chief minister said they [PML-N] have eliminated load-shedding once and for all, and it will not return to the country again. He added that the PML-N government, with the funding of the poor country like Pakistan, installed 3,600MW gas powered project and now the Punjab government is installing new gas-based project of 1,263MW being installed at Rs10 billion less than other projects.
The chief minister further said, “We are thankful to the Chinese government which helped us eliminate power crisis,” and added that “if the Chinese cooperation had not been with us, we would have been unable to achieve targets”. He also said that by the end of the current year or the start of next year, 3,600MW will be added to the national grid from the gas powered projects.
CM Shehbaz further went on to say that the Punjab government has established the gas power plant of 1,180MW, while in Bahawalpur 400MW solar power plants had also been established. He added that under CPEC, 1,320MW coal power plant has been established in Sahiwal, for which funds had been provided by Punjab government but electricity produced will be utilized by the whole country.
Federal Ministers Sardar Awais Khan Leghari, Abid Sher Ali, Chaudhry Anwar Javed, provincial ministers, ambassadors of China and Germany, members of national and provincial assemblies, senior officers, industrialists, traders, representatives of Chinese companies and a large number of people participated in the ceremony.