HYDERABAD: Sindh Energy Minister Imtiaz Shaikh has said that with the largest reserves of Thar coal, Sindh offers solution to the existing energy crisis Pakistan is facing and it could produce 50,000 megawatts of electricity.

He said the Sindh government had completed work on the first coal powerhouse in Thar in collaboration with Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company (SECMC) and the project would contribute 300MW to the national grid.

Speaking to reporters at Hyderabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Thursday, he said Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari would inaugurate the powerhouse in Thar in January. The Sindh government was working on five more powerhouses as joint venture under public-private partnership, he added.

He said Sindh produced 70 per cent gas, but the federal government did not give Sindh its share of gas as per constitutional requirement. He also said the chief minister of Sindh would raise this issue in the Council of Common Interests (CCI).

He maintained that the Sindh government was committed to facilitate business community. Criticising the federal government, he said that before the general elections, Imran Khan had promised that smaller provinces would get their rights and it was time that he should fulfil his promise and ensure justice with Sindh.

He said the federal government must ensure representation of Sindh in the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) and other national institutions like National Transmission and Despatch Company (NTDC) and Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA). Important decisions were taken in those bodies and provinces remained unaware of it, he said.

He said that under Article 158 of the Constitution, a province having gas reserves had the first right over its use and then it was to be supplied to other areas. He said that gas tariff should be decided in the CCI instead of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC).

He said there was no evidence to prove anything against Asif Zardari and talk of his arrest was nothing but rumours. He said the PPP never opposed accountability as it wanted transparent and across the board action.

He said there should not be selective accountability. The federal government was doing political victimisation in the name of accountability.

He shared that the Sindh government was working on 35 wind, 25 solar and one hydro energy projects, but the government needed support of the Centre.

Earlier, he met a Chinese delegation and said Pak-China friendship was exemplary. He said Pakistan laid the foundation of a new era in the region.

Published in Dawn, November 16th, 2018