KARACHI: Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Saturday approved a Rs4 billion Solar Home System (SHS) scheme being launched with the assistance of the World Bank in 10 districts from next month.

He accorded the approval while presiding over a meeting of the energy department which was attended by Sindh Minister for Energy Imtiaz Sheikh, Chief Secretary Mumtaz Shah, planning and development chairperson Shireen Narejo and other officials concerned.

Briefing the CM, Imtiaz Sheikh said that under the scheme, 20,000 households would be provided solar power system for their houses on a 50pc subsidy on the cost. He explained that a recipient of the system would have to pay 50pc of its value to vendor and the rest 50pc would be borne by the government.

He said that the 10 districts selected by the government were Badin, Ghotki, Jacobabad, Kandhkot-Kashmore, Khairpur, Qambar-Shahdadkot, Sanghar, Tharparkar, Sujawal and Umerkot.

Mr Sheikh said that the supplier/vendor of the solar system for two districts, Sanghar and Khairpur, had already been selected.

The chief minister was informed that under the SHS scheme, PV solar plates, lithium-ion battery, three LED bulbs, one DC fan and one mobile charger port would be provided to each recipient.

He noted that in each of the 10 districts, the solar system would be provided to 60pc households headed by women and 50pc households headed by men.

The chief minister directed the energy department to give preference to the poor people who were either living in the off-grid area or to those who could not afford to get a power connection.

The chief minister approved the project and directed the energy minister to make arrangements for its launch next month.

Published in Dawn, May 30th, 2021