ISLAMABAD: (APP) Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif Monday said end of power shortages was essential for realizing the huge economic potential of the country.
Addressing a meeting to review progress on various energy related projects, here at PM House, the Prime Minister said the tireless efforts of the present government are not only restricted to end power shortages from the country by 2018 as the long term plans of the government include production of more than 30,000 MWs of electricity by 2022.
"Never in the history of Pakistan have there been such huge investments made for production of electricity; aiming to fulfil our needs and also cater for the projected demands in the future," a statement from the PM House quoted the prime minister as saying.
He regretted that unfortunately the issue was ignored by the successive governments in last 15 years. He said increased power generation would substantially contribute towards economic growth and increased industrial activities.
The Prime Minister said he was personally monitoring the progress on the ongoing power projects across the country to ensure their timely completion.
"Our energy plan is the centerpiece of our economic vision and no laxity in the execution and completion of energy projects could be tolerated," the Prime Minister said.
The meeting was given a detailed briefing on the capacity and timeline for completion of various ongoing power projects in Pakistan.
The meeting was informed that around 10,996 MW of power would be added to the national grid by March 2018 against an expected generation shortfall of 7000 to 8000 MW, estimated for 2017-18. The significant addition of power to the national grid would eliminate load shedding from the country.
The meeting was briefed that work on improving the transmission system was going on in all parts of the country, which was being closely monitored by the Ministry of Water and Power.
The system augmentation work for carrying the additional capacity will be completed by the end of 2017, which will make the country's 90% transmission system constraint-free, the meeting was informed.
The meeting was attended by Minister for Finance Ishaq Dar, Minister for Panning, Development & Reform Ahsan Iqbal, Minister for Water & Power Khawaja Muhammad Asif and Chief Minister Punjab Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif, SAPM Tariq Fatemi and other senior officials of the government.