Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal has said that China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) will be a corruption-free project and fate changer for Pakistan.
Talking to a private news channel, he said there was zero chance of corruption in the project as out of total 46 billion dollars 40 would be invested in power sector through private investors and the private sector would have to get return of its investment.
The remaining 6 billion dollars would be a concessional financing from the Chinese government for the projects of infrastructure, he said, adding that the Chinese government would nominate a panel of three reputed companies in this regard.
The minister said that the bidding would be made among all the three companies and the lowest bidder would be awarded with the contract. Replying to a question, he said that national institutions had fixed the tariffs for different energy projects of investment including coal, wind, hydel and solar in country’s energy policy. The contract would be signed with any contractor to purchase the electricity on the fixed tariff, he added.
He said being a time-tested friend, China had taken a decision of huge investment in Pakistan in a time when the local investors were hesitating to invest in the country. Ahsan Iqbal said the project had changed the world’s perception regarding Pakistan. “The project has the potential to make Pakistan a power house of Asia.”