ISLAMABAD, May 16: Minister for Finance Shaukat Aziz on Friday said the Sindh government has asked for immediate Rs1 billion funding for first phase of Thar coal project and the centre would soon release the amount.

Talking to Dawn after a high level meeting attended by President Gen. Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali on Friday, the finance minister said that Rs1 billion funding was meant for the development of infrastructure and roads in the project area.

The meeting, he said, decided to offer all possible funds to both Gwadar Sea Port and Thar Coal because both the projects were being developed in the remotest and poorest areas of Balochistan and Sindh respectively and as such deserved special attention of the government.

Initially, he said, China has promised to extend considerable financial and technical support to help start Thar coal project.

Responding to a question he said that the federal government would make generous allocation in the next budget for second and third phases of Thar coal project.

He said the president and the prime minister had carefully heard the point of view of Chief Minister Sindh Mr. Mahr and assured him of all their support for undertaking new development projects in the province.