BEIJING, April 27: China and Pakistan have agreed to jointly launch work on the Thar Coal project on May 10.

In this connection, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) will be signed here on Monday.

A five-member Pakistani delegation, led by Dewan Mohammad Yousuf Farooqi, Sindh minister for mines and mineral development, arrived here on Friday to finalize the joint venture and take part in the signing ceremony to be held at Pakistan Embassy. The delegation includes Sindh Secretary Muhammad Aslam Sanjrani.

A member of the delegation, S. Hasan Gauhar, director-general of the Geological Survey of Pakistan, told APP that the Chinese government had agreed to provide financial and technical help for the development of the Thar Coal project, which had an estimated reserve of 175.5 billion tons.

According to the agreement, the Chinese company, Shenhua Group, will undertake the project on BOO basis, and will be responsible for investment, construction and operation, while the Pakistani will provide it with the project-site and necessary infrastructure.

Mr Gauhar said the Chinese company would carry out a geological survey through drilling on an area of 50 square metres within one year. In order to meet the initial requirement, the Chinese government would provide a grant of five million dollars, he added.

According to sources, the Chinese company will drill about 150 exploratory holes to ascertain availability of coal, paving the way for setting up a power plant to generate electricity.

The government of Pakistan has already identified an area in Thar to hand it over to the Chinese company for the project.—APP