Shahbaz signs Taunsa power generation deal

LAHORE – Chinese and Punjab governments signed an agreement for the generation of 120 megawatts of electricity at Taunsa Barrage in Beijing on Wednesday. The project, to be completed, with China’s cooperation in three years, will cost Rs 26 billion.
Punjab Development Company Chairman Babar Nadeem and the State Corporation Chairman that produces 30 thousand megawatts of electricity in China’s region of Wang Shao Fang signed the agreement. Addressing the signing ceremony, Punjab Chief Minister Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif expressed his gratitude for the Chinese government and the Chinese people and said that the power generation from Taunsa Barrage would be a historic event.
He said that load-shedding, besides creating problems for the Pakistani people, had also affected industrial and business sectors. He said that the power generation from the Taunsa Barrage would help mobilize the economy as well as generate employment. He said that the low-cost power generation project had paved the way for foreign investment in the energy and other sectors in Punjab. He expressed the confidence that China could play an important role in ridding Pakistan of load-shedding.
Chinese Communist Party: Meanwhile, at the invitation of Chinese Communist Party, Shahbaz met its senior leadership at the Great People’s Hall. Senator Pervaiz Rashid, Rana Sanaullah, Khawaja Ahmed Hasaan, Saud Majid, Hafiz Mian Nauman, Zaeem Hussain Qadri, Rana Mubashar Iqbal, Kiran Imran, Shamsa Gohar and a number of important leaders from the Chinese Communist Party were present on the occasion.
Talking to the visiting delegation from Punjab, the Chinese Communist Party’s senior leader Jia Qing Lin said that the party was interested in the reform programme by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz.
He also stressed the need for a better working relationship and increased contact between the Communist Party of China and the PML-N. Shahbaz said that the equitable distribution of resources was the common agenda of both parties.