ISLAMABAD: The Pak-China Relations Steering Committee was informed that the Right-of-Way Issue (RoW) near Karachi of 660-KV HVDC Matiari-Lahore Transmission Line had been resolved and power was now being evacuated through the transmission line.

The Pak-China Relations Steering Committee met with Federal Minister for Planning Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar in the chair, here on Wednesday.

The committee discussed various issues relating to the CPEC projects in power, infrastructure and industrial cooperation sectors.

The committee was also briefed on the 880-MW Sukki Kinari Hydropower Project.

The chair directed the KP government to resolve the operational issues faced by the project on priority.

The secretary Ministry of Communications also briefed the committee on the ongoing projects in the infrastructure under the CPEC and informed the committee that the Re-alignment of Thakot-Raikkot is a critical component of the northern alignment.

The secretary highlighted that a government-to-government (G2G) technical committee has been formed for the project and the ToRs of the committee have also been shared with the Chinese side for views and comments.

The minister also directed that a meeting be convened soon under the deputy chairman Planning Commission to discuss the financing modalities of the project.

The committee also discussed the issues faced by the investors in various Special Economic Zones (SEZs).

The Punjab Board of Investment and Trade and KP EPZ Authority updated the committee on the individual issues of various investors.

The Sindh Investment Department informed that the developer for Dhabeji SEZ had been identified and final approval would be granted soon.

The committee was informed that a number of issues that were discussed during the last meeting had been resolved as per the directions of the committee, while some others were under process for approval of the relevant fora.

The Power Division informed the committee that proposals for extension of Commercial Operations Date (COD) of six power projects were under process and the matter will be discussed in the upcoming meeting of the Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA) board.

The Deputy Chairman Planning Commission, SAPM on CPEC, Secretary Foreign, Secretary Interior, Secretary Railways, Secretary Power, Secretary Finance, National Security Adviser, and senior officers of the ministries/divisions and provincial departments attended the meeting.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021