KARACHI, Aug 5: Installation of at least three power plants capable of generating over 730 megawatts on a daily basis will begin here next year. This was announced by the federal minister for water and power, Liaquat Ali Khan Jatoi, at a press conference in his camp office on Friday morning.

He said the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation would install a 350-megawatt power plant in Korangi. He said a 148-megawatt power plant, which would become operational within 15 months, would be set up by a foreign company, Western Electric. He added that one of the power plants gifted by the United Arab Emirates to Pakistan would be installed in Karachi. The plant, to be set up in the city by the ministry of water and power would generate 240 megawatts, he said, adding that the other plant capable of generating 148 megawatts would be installed in Faisalabad.

The federal minister said the government had taken a policy decision under which electricity development projects for Karachi would be initiated and completed independently of the KESC privatization process. He said he hoped that there would be increased foreign investment in power projects in the city in particular and in the country in general. He said the government had organized two road shows for investment in the country’s power sector in Dubai and London.

Mr Jatoi said a direct link between the KESC and the Hub Power plant would be in place by March 2006, giving the electricity-strapped KESC an additional 1,000 megawatts.

Answering questions about the privatization of the KESC, he said Saudi Arabia’s Kanooz al Watan group, which made the highest bid of Rs15.86 billion for a 73 per cent stake in the KESC earlier this year, forfeited its earnest money when it failed to make payment on the stipulated time. He added that the second highest bidder Hassan Associates had been asked to match the bid placed by Kanooz al Watan.

Giving an overview of ongoing power development projects in the city, the federal minister said that at least 10 40-MVA transformers had been installed. He added that an order had been placed for three Rs2.8 billion grid stations. He said a total of 12 grid stations would be set up in the city.

He claimed that the army-run administration of the KESC had been able to bring down transmission and distribution losses from 41 per cent in 2000 to 34 per cent. He hoped that the losses would drop to 24 per cent within two years. He further claimed that the revenue recovery of the KESC had increased from Rs20 billion in 2000 to Rs46 billion. He added that the subsidy given by the federal government to the KESC on an annual basis had come down from Rs17 billion to Rs16.4 billion.

Mr Jatoi was accompanied by the federal secretary for water and power, Ashfaque Mehmood; the KESC managing director, Brig Tariq Saddozai; the managing director of the Private Power Infrastructure Board, Zafar Ali Khan; and others.