Ahsan calls for developing Thar as a 'model city'

Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Reform, Ahsan Iqbal underlined the need for master plan to develop Thar as a 'Model City' and asked the government of Sindh and investors in Engro Power Plant to take necessary steps for this purpose.
"Investors in Thar should maximise Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to uplift lives of the poor. The economic activities in Thar should not be geared to earn the profits only but should also focus on economic and social uplift of the area. We should not repeat the mistake made in Sui in Balochistan," Ahsan Iqbal said this while chairing a fortnightly review meeting of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) at Ministry of Planning, Development and Reform on Thursday.
The minister also directed to finalise the plan to switch Gwadar Power Plant from coal to LNG/oil on urgent basis to meet the urgent energy needs of the port city. The meeting reviewed the progress on projects in energy, road infrastructure, railway and Gwadar under CPEC framework. The minister directed to undertake the construction work on CPEC projects on fast track basis to ensure their completion in stipulated time frame. The minister emphasised that smarter and scientific approach should be adopted while carrying out the work on CPEC projects and urged for mobilising the required financial resources promptly for smooth execution of work on these projects.
While reviewing the energy project in CPEC, Ahsan Iqbal said that speedy work on these projects is necessary to tackle the energy crisis and power needs of industrial zones in future under CPEC. He said that with the completion of the energy projects in early harvest projects, 10,000MGW would be added to national grid by 2018. He asked Ministry of Water and Power to present an integrated plan for generation, transmission and distribution for next three year within one week to ensure that new power will be distributed to consumers in a planned manner. He also directed that young Pakistani engineers should be inducted in power plants to learn from Chinese counterparts' erection and fabrication of power plants.
Ahsan Iqbal also underlined the need to use CPEC projects for making country a manufacturing economy rather a trading one for sustained economic growth. While reviewing Gwadar projects, the Minister directed the concerned authorities to consider urban planning requirements while devising Master Plan for Gwadar and also called for enforcing the land zoning laws to rationalise the prices of land in the city. The meeting also reviewed KKH-II (Thakot-Havalaian section) and Multan-Sukkur Section of Karachi-Peshawar Motorway, Matiari-Lahore Transmission Line, ML-1 Railway Track, LNG Pipeline Project etc and expressed satisfaction over progress on CPEC projects.