MUZAFFARABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif inaugurated the 102MW Gulpur hydropower project on Poonch river in Azad Jammu and Kashmir's Kotli district Thursday, reported Radio Pakistan.

The hydropower plant project is expected to be completed in four years at a cost of US $320 million.

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, the premier said the government plans to build a host of small and big hydropower projects to address the issue of electricity shortage.

Read: Accord signed for 100MW hydropower project

Nawaz invited foreign investors to invest in the mega projects of Diamer, Basha and Dasu dams "which will add about 9,000MW of electricity to the national grid."

He pointed out that there is potential of generating 500MW power on Poonch river which will be fully exploited.

He said the 969MW Neelum Jhelum project is nearing completion and the government is interested in privatising it after its commissioning.

Also read: IFC to invest $50 million in Gulpur Hydropower Project

The prime minister reiterated commitment to address the issue of power shortage by the end of 2017. He said power shortages have already considerably been reduced from 12 to six hours. These will continue to decline in the years to come, he said.

He said the government is laying more emphasis to producing electricity at cheaper rates. For this purpose, he said, hydroelectric, LNG and coal projects are being established.

Nawaz said the Thar coal mine is also being explored to meet the future energy requirements of the country.

About China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project, the prime minister said the work on the project has been fast tracked.

Addressing the ceremony, Prime Minister Azad Kashmir Chaudhary Abdul Majeed appreciated the goverment's steps towards addressing the electricity shortage in the region.

He also lauded the prime minister for strongly raising the Kashmir issue at the United Nations (UN) General Assembly.

The government signed an implementation agreement with a South Korean consortium to set up the 102MW Gulpur hydropower project in September 2013.

The project, developed by Mira Power Limited, is a subsidiary of Korea South East Power Company (KOSEP) of South Korea.

Korean investors will inject up to twenty five percent funds in the project while the remaining will be provided by different banks.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) earlier in June 2015 announced an investment of $50 million for Gulpur hydropower project and mobilising a further $72m for the project to address Pakistan’s power shortage, support lower cost energy generation, and help develop renewable energy sources, Dawn newspaper reported.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is already supporting the project in line with the country partnership strategy for Pakistan.

The project involves construction and operation of a run-of-the-river hydroelectric power generation facility on Poonch River, some 28km upstream from Mangla, the country’s second largest water storage reservoir.

It will generate electricity by using indigenous water resources, and the tariff for electricity supplied by the project will be lower.

The project will also avoid greenhouse gas emissions of almost 240,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year.

Nawaz urges PTI to practice mature politics

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony of Gulpur hydropower project, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif urged the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf (PTI) to "practice mature politics for the sake of the country".

He asked the PTI to accept the results of recently held by polls in Punjab, adding that the government desires a constructive and positive environment of politics in the best national interests.

He said the government kept the PTI members part of the parliament by requesting the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) to withdraw their resolutions against them.

The premier said that the nation should also see as to who is carrying forward the development agenda and who is impeding the process. He said "the nation should take notice of the negative politics of the party and hold them accountable for their deeds."

Nawaz regretted that the government approved a historic farmers package worth Rs350 billion but the PTI opposed it.

The PTI is fearful of the development agenda of the Pakistan Muslim League- Nawaz (PML-N) and takes it as a threat for the next general elections, he said.