Staff Reporter
Lahore
Chief Minister Punjab Sardar Usman Buzdar chaired the ceremony to signing Rs100 billion financing agreement between the Punjab Thermal Power (Pvt) Ltd. and a consortium of six banks at a local hotel on Thursday.
Addressing the ceremony, the CM termed the agreement the largest sovereign guarantee in the history of the country and congratulated provincial ministers Hashim Jawan Bakht, Dr Akhtar Malik and others. GSA and PPA agreements have been signed despite slackness in business activities due to corona onslaught, he maintained. The Punjab Thermal Power Plant was speedily completed and electricity would be generated by the end of 2021, he said.
Meanwhile, the CM said 80 per cent work is completed on RLNG-based Punjab Power Plant in Trimmu as installation of 93-kilometres long gas pipeline and 48-kilometres long transmission line projects have been completed. Similarly, the latest technology-based system has been installed in the Punjab Power Plant to generate cheap electricity. Due to payment in Pak rupees, the precious reserves would be saved along with a decrease in the production cost of the electricity, he maintained. This would help in bringing a substantial decrease in circular debt along with creating job opportunities for thousands of people. The Punjab government is giving attention to electricity generation through alternate sources keeping in view the less cost of electricity produced through solar, wind or hydropower plants, the CM held.
The chief minister maintained electricity was produced at the rate of Rs 9.29 to Rs 27.12 per unit in power plants installed in previous tenures. However, the per-unit cost of electricity generated through Punjab Thermal Power Plant would be Rs 8.95 per unit, he added. More than two crores and 70 lac unit electricity have been generated by the hydropower projects installed in Pakpattan and Marala by the incumbent government, he said.
