Thar coal, power project: Company expected to start production in 2018

[Muhammad Omar]

This coal mining and power production project is part of the Pak-China Economic Corridor. DESIGN: FAIZAN DAWOOD

ISLAMABAD: Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company (SECMC), which is working in Thar on coal-based power production, has announced it will be able to supply 660 megawatts of electricity to the national grid by the first quarter of 2018 if the project’s financial closure is achieved this year.

Speaking to the media during a two-day visit to the Thar coal field, SECMC Chief Executive Officer Shamsuddin Ahmad Shaikh said the company being a joint venture partner of the Sindh government was working on setting up two power plants of 330MW each for generating electricity from coal in the first phase of the project.

He said land area in block-II of Thar field, spread over 5,925 acres, had been allotted to SECMC. It requires an injection of $2 billion, of which $0.9 billion will be spent on mining and $1.1 billion will go for developing coal-fired power plants.

This coal mining and power production project is part of the Pak-China Economic Corridor for which a bank will arrange Rs60 billion, while the remaining money will be provided by China. “We are targeting financial closure by the middle of 2015,” Shaikh said.

Keeping in view the fact that Tharparkar ranks the lowest in Sindh’s social development index, the company has decided to spend 10% of the project cost on relocation and purchasing while 2% (before tax) will be spent under the head of corporate social responsibility.

“We would provide maximum jobs to the people of Thar, besides ensuring proper water supply, health and educational facilities,” he said.

Stakeholders and shareholders had so far injected Rs3.8 billion of equity into the project, he said, adding the scheme of such a scale needed government’s support in providing infrastructure. At the outset, Shaikh said he was grateful to both the federal and Sindh governments for their support and keen interest in the project.

He said work had begun on three out of six segments for the rehabilitation of road from Thatta to Islamkot while PC-1 for a 500-kilovolt-ampere 250km transmission line had been approved.

The National Transmission and Dispatch Company (NTDC) has assured timely availability of transmission lines and the Sindh government has agreed to provide funds for the purpose.

Published in The Express Tribune