BEIJING, Dec 20 (APP)::Pakistan and China here on Thursday signed a financing agreement for the construction of Thar Energy Limited 330 MW coal-based power project. Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Reform Makdum Khusro Bakhtyar, Chief Minister Sindh Murad Ali Shah, Pakistan Ambassador to China, Masood Khalid and other senior officials attended the ceremony.The structuring of project amounting to US$ 520 million is being done through a consortium of business leaders from Pakistan and China which is equally supported by the financial institutions of the two countries.
Project Director Saleemullah Memon told APP that the HUBCO was 60 percent shareholder and Fauji Fertilizer Company was 30 percent shareholder while and China Machinery Engineering Corporation has 10 percent shares. He informed that the construction of the project had already been started in May this year and it would complete in March 2021.
Saleemullah Memon said it was the financial document signing ceremony today and there would another step which was called financial close and it would be signed in the next couple of months. The cost of the project was US$ 520 million and it would be completed with the financial support of two consortium led by China Development Bank (CDB) and Habib Bank Limited (HBL) respectively. He said it was a very important project to meet the increasing demand of the electricity in the country.
He said the Thar coal was a key for national energy security because it was a huge coal reserve which would primarily be used for power generation. The project would provide employment opportunities to local and help decrease import of energy products, he added.
