'Addition of power will eliminate load shedding'

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Monday chaired a meeting to review progress on various energy related projects. The meeting was given a detailed briefing on the capacity and timeline for completion of various ongoing power projects in country. The meeting was informed that around 10,996MW of power will be added to the national grid by March 2018 against an expected generation shortfall of 7,000 to 8,000MW, estimated for 2017-18. The significant addition of power to the national grid will eliminate load shedding from the country.
The meeting was further briefed that work on improving the transmission system is going on in all parts of the country, which is closely monitored by the Ministry of Water & Power. The system augmentation work for carrying the additional capacity will be completed by the end of 2017, which will make the country's 90 per cent transmission system constraint-free, said the briefing.
The Prime Minister said that getting rid of power shortages is essential for realising the huge economic potential of the country, which was unfortunately ignored by the successive governments during the last 15 years. The Prime Minister said the tireless efforts of the present government are not only restricted to end power shortages from the country by 2018 as the long-term plans of the government include production of more than 30,000MW of electricity by 2022. "Never in the history of Pakistan have there been such huge investments made for production of electricity; aiming to fulfil our needs and also cater for the projected demands in the future," he said.
The Prime Minister said that increased power generation would substantially contribute towards economic growth and increased industrial activities. The Prime Minister added that he is personally monitoring the progress on the ongoing power projects across the country to ensure timely completion of these projects. "Our energy plan is the centerpiece of our economic vision and no laxity in the execution and completion of energy projects could be tolerated," emphasised the Prime Minister.
The meeting was attended by Federal Minister for Finance Ishaq Dar, Minister for Panning, Development & Reform Ahsan Iqbal, Minister for Water & Power Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Chief Minister Punjab Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif, SAPM Tariq Fatemi and other senior officials of the government.-PR