Federal govt choosing ‘kickbacks’ over buying cheap power from KP: Imran

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Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan on Wednesday accused the federal government of refusing to buy “affordable surplus electricity” from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) because of kickbacks in the projects with overseas companies.

The KP has 75 megawatts of ready electricity but it isn’t being bought,” Imran told reporters in a presser in Islamabad. He was accompanied by KP Chief Minister Pervez Khattak.

Imran accused Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif of initiating “harmful” power plant in the province because of a reliance on “coal and LNG” for the power production instead of hydel power plants. He said Pakistan is facing pollution because of the power plants operated in Punjab.

Generating of electricity from water is the least expensive and the country’s development relies on it, but Punjab still opted for ‘expensive’ coal and LNG plants as the exchangeable currency is dollar,” he claimed.

He further said that an agreement had been signed between the KP government and a Russian company, under which an oil refining plant will be established in Kohat that will refine 20,000 barrels of oil daily.