Sindh government has decided to take up the issue of non-implementation of decisions regarding Thar Coal in front of Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf. This decision was taken at a high level meeting held at the Chief Minister's House in the chair of CM Sindh Syed Qaim Ali Shah.
The meeting was attended by Minister for Agriculture/Chairman Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company Syed Ali Nawaz Shah, Finance Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, Revenue Minister Jam Mehtab Dahar, Chairman Sindh Board of Investment Muhammad Zubair Motiwala, Syed Asad Ali Shah ex-member TCEB, Secretary Coal and Energy Development and others. The meeting was held to review the implementation status of the decisions taken by Prime Minister of Pakistan for fast track development of Thar Coal.
The Sindh CM was briefed about the actions taken by Thar Coal & Energy Board and Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company after the meeting with PM last month. It was informed that Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company immediately after the decision of the PM approached the CEO Genco Holding Company to finalise the draft of subject agreement and set the date of signing.
The draft agreement has also been sent to CEO Genco Holding Company by CEO SECMC. However, till to-date no headway was made on the signing of subject agreement. On the front of Sovereign Guarantee to that Block-II Mining Project, all necessary documents were provided by the TCEB to the Finance Division for due diligence in the matter and issuance of Sovereign Guarantee, as directed by the PM of Pakistan.
The Chief Minister was informed that the Thar-equivalent coal was available in Indonesia which could be used in Jamshoro plant, if needed because of any mismatch between timelines of Thar Block-II coal mine and Power Plan. The lignite from coal wines in Gujrat, India is being transported up to a distance of 800 km. The SECMC also compiled a report by R/VE Germany on the concerns raised, by the Asian Development Bank on environmental issues in utilising Thar coal and got re-assurances from Sinosure and other Chinese Financial Institutions to provide lending soon after signing of coal off-take agreement and issuance of sovereign guarantee.
On the occasion, Syed Qaim Ali Shah said Thar was the only viable option for meeting Pakistan's future energy needs and government would provide full support to all projects for early execution. He assured the forum that he would take up the matter with the Prime Minister of Pakistan again to ensure speedy implementation of his earlier decisions.-PR