ISLAMABAD: M/s Oracle Power has reportedly accused Private Power & Infrastructure Board (PPIB) of putting its $ 4 billion power and gas and liquidity project on ice without citing any reason.
These accusations were hurled by Naheed Memon Chief Executive Officer M/s Oracle in a letter to Secretary Power, Rashid Mehmood Langial.
Oracle Power aims to build a l,320MW power plant and a coal to gas and liquid facility in Thar with its consortium partners, China National Coal Development Company (one of the largest coal mining enterprises in the world) and The Private Office of H.H. Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook Al Maktoum under the CPEC.
The company is actively developing Thar Block VI since 2007, the time when there was a height of terrorism and not even initial thoughts of the CPEC.
“Even after spending $ 20 million on the project development to date, having perfect consortium with a committed foreign direct investment of over $ 4 billion and a CPEC priority project, M/s Oracle has been struggling to acquire an LoI from Private Power & Infrastructure Board where its application is pending since March 2020,” said Naveed Memon in her letter.
According to the company, a 1,320 MW coal-fired mine mouth power project at Thar Coal Block VI was originally included in the agreement on the CPEC energy project cooperation between the governments of China and Pakistan on November 8, 2014 as “actively promoted project.”
Thereafter in the 6th meeting of the Joint Cooperation Committee of CPEC (JCC), held in Beijing on December 29, 2016, the Oracle CPEC Project along with its integrated surface mine was moved from actively promoted project to “prioritized project”. Moreover, realizing the importance of Thar Coal Block VI to the future energy security and economic development of Pakistan it was included as coal gasification lo fertilizer project as well as well in the 9th meeting of the JCC, held in Islamabad on November 5, 2-19.
That following on from the 9th JCC meeting Oracle entered into a Joint Development Agreement with the Private Office of H.H. Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook Juma Al Maktoum (Private Office) and China National Coal Development Company Limited (CNCDCL), a subsidiary of China National Coal Group Corporation on December 15, 2019 to jointly develop Thar Coal Block VI surface mine along with a l320MW mine mouth coal-fired project and a coal gasification to fertilizer project under CPEC framework, she added.
On March25, 2020, Oracle Power along with its consortium partners submitted to the PPIB s detailed 379-page ‘Application for Letter of Intent, for setting up a 1,320MW (2x660 MW) indigenous coal-fired mine mouth power project at Thar Coal Block VI, Sindh”. But despite repeated reminders as well as follow up meetings, PPIB has despite having no possible objections failed to process this application and issue the Letter of Intent, she maintained.
According to the company, this, is continuation of the bureaucratic hurdles faced by international investors in Pakistan’ s energy sector and past practices of the PPIB and the relevant decision makers in the Ministry of Energy (Power Division) who have through their actions tried their best to cripple the Oracle CPEC project resulting in the project being delayed.
The consortium remains committed to the Oracle CPEC project despite the calculated actions of the officials in the PPIB, NTDC and other relevant functionaries.
Through email of April 7, 2021, PPIB confirmed receipt ofthe proposal and requested the consortium to pay the fee which was promptly paid and requested certain additional information which was duly provided.
M/s Oracle and its consortium partners were called to give a presentation to the then SAPM on Mines and Mineral, Shahzad Qasim along with PPIB and Ministry of Planning in respect of its LoI application and its plans to set up a coal to gas and coals to liquids project. A comprehensive presentation was given and plan was submitted with the PPIB and the Ministry of Energy on September11, 2020. However, again no further response was received as to the fate of the LoI application.
This application was followed up with reminder of July 13, 2020, July 23, 2020 and October 23, 2020 from Oracle seeking an update on the progress of the proposal but all such letters have not been responded to.
Oracle and its consortium partners assume that while the proposal is responsive in all respects and there is no reason why PPIB can legitimately deny issuing LoI it has for reasons best known to it failed to issue the LoI.
“While in isolation one may consider that this is simply a case of bureaucratic delay what has caused concern for the consortium is when one looks at the fate of Oracle’s past applications and the role and personal opinions of certain individuals with decision making authority it appears that the Oracle CPEC project is being actively delayed with mala fide intent at the behest of certain quarters,” she said, adding that it appears that a concerted effort has been created to ensure that a false and misleading impression is created to cripple the Oracle Power project which would otherwise potentially result in a $ 4 billion foreign investment in Pakistan by creating bureaucratic hurdles and delaying approvals and processes.
M/s Oracle has requested Secretary Power to direct PPIB to forthwith issue an LoI for its 1,320 MW project so that it may start moving forward in earnest. The NTDC and Nepra should also be directed to treat the l,320 MW Oracle Power Project as a committed project for the ongoing interaction of the IGCEP.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
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