MULTAN: Minister of State for Water and Power Abid Sher Ali has claimed that 1500-megawatt electricity will be added to national grid till May to overcome prevailing power crisis in the country.
While talking to media, Abid said that the privatisation of Wapda would be taken in interests of its employees and reservations of their unions would be removed.
He said that work on projects including Diamir Bhasha, Tarbela fourth extension and Dasu Dam were underway, while the Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) would also reach the country till March 31 to run the closed powerhouses including Multan Piran Ghaib powerhouse.
“The Neelam-Jhelum project will add 969MW once complete…all transformers in Phase II will be upgraded before summer starts,” he added
The minister of state disclosed that the government had already given Rs18 billion relief to the electricity consumers under fuel adjustment system. However, he made it clear that the cities would continue to face six-hour daily loadshedding and rural areas eight-hour.
Earlier, addressing a gathering of power looms workers, he said that a project for the installation of ABC cable had been launched at a cost of Rs500 million. He said that the benefit of Rs3.24 per unit decrease in electricity price would be passed on to the consumers in coming bills.
Power Looms Association President Khaliq Qandeel said that the cables were fire and water proof and would lead to fewer accidents and deaths due to electric shocks.
