ISLAMABAD: Headed by Federal Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, the sub-committee of the Cabinet on energy has continued its deliberations to take measures to curb energy shortage in the country, focusing on establishment of power projects based on local gas supplies and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG).
The cabinet committee on energy headed by the prime minister had directed the ministerial committee to present the plan within a week for its approval and implementation. Federal Ministers for Petroleum & Natural Resources Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Federal Minister for Water & Power Khwaja Mohammad Asif, senior officials of Prime Minister’s Office, Ministries of W&P, P&NR, PPIB and NTDC were also present.
This was discussed after the sub-committee had discussed long-term plans of addressing energy woes by introducing a 3,600-megawatt LNG-based power plant in Punjab.
The presentation was given to the meeting, prepared by the ministries of finance, petroleum and water and power. The presentation contained relevant details on the project, aiming to add up over 5,000MW electricity to the national grid.
The sub-committee focused on addressing issues which are inherently short term in nature, i.e. one to two years for providing urgent relief to the public man. As desired by the finance minister in the last meeting, arrangements for evacuation of additional power were also outlined and highlighted in the presentation.
The minister asked all concerned officials to finalise relevant details for a final round of discussion at the next session of the sub-committee on Tuesday. The meeting in all likelihood would firm up recommendations on addressing energy shortage for submission to the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.