The Sindh government has finally decided to revive Keti Bander port along with setting up of a 10,000-megawatt coal-fired power plant. This was stated by Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah at a meeting held with a high-powered Chinese delegation on Friday at the CM House. The Chinese team was led by renowned diplomat and President of China-Pakistan Association Sha Zukang and its members included senior adviser of China Institute for International Strategic Studies and a former Chinese ambassador to Pakistan.
The chief minister said that Keti Bander is a natural port and very close to Thar coal field. "We are ready to lay railway line from Thar coal field to Keti Bander to transport coal for coal-fired power plant," he said, adding that the Keti Bander once a historical port of Sindh was popular all over the world and this fact is mentioned in the travelogues of Arabian, European and Central Asian writers.
He said that Shaheed Benazir Bhutto was keen to revive Keti Bander port and to install a 10,000MW coal-based power plant, but it could not take place in her life time. "Now, my government has revived the project and we would take it up either under public-private partnership or on built-operate and transfer (BoT) basis," he said.
The Chinese diplomat Sha Zukang, who was accompanied by Chinese consul-general in Karachi, said that Sindh government's team led by Additional Chief Secretary (Development) Aijaz Ali Khan had held a detailed discussion with him and his team. "It is a fabulous and most attractive project and Chinese investors and their consortium would love to take it up," he said and urged the Sindh government to make a detailed case of the Keti Bander project and send it to Chinese government through Chinese consul-general in Karachi for further negotiation. The chief minister directed the ACS Aijaz Ali Khan to make the case under the guidance of Senior Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah and send the same to China after his approval. "But, this must be done at the earliest," he added.
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