LAHORE: The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry hoped that 1180 MW Bhikki Power Plant will give a new lease of life to the industrial sector that is in dire need of sufficient cheaper electricity to enhance momentum of its production.
In a statement issued here, the LCCI President Sheikh Muhammad Arshad, Senior Vice President Almas Haider and Vice President Nasir Saeed said that Bhikki Power Plant shows the seriousness of the present regime in resolving the energy crisis being witnessed by the country since decades.
They said that it is not a project of only Punjab, it is a project of Pakistan as electricity produced at Bhikki Power Plant will be distributed across the country through national grid station.
LCCI office-bearers said that not only Bhikki but all power projects should be completed at the earliest as Pakistan is one of those countries that are facing serious challenges of energy deficit.
“We cannot survive without sufficient energy when the neighboring countries are progressing leaps and bounds. If a proper and cheaper energy shortage solution is not made available at the earliest, nothing would able to stop the flight of capital to the safer places”, LCCI office-bearers added.
They said that unfortunately, we all are suffering when the country can produce 100,000 MW of electricity for next 100 years through its coal reserves, 50,000 MW of electricity through hydel resources in only Gilgit-Baltistan.
LCCI office-bearers said that if government even manages to generate power as per installed capacity, 24/7/365 sufficient power will be available for all while early completion of power projects in the pipeline would enable Pakistan to export additional electricity to the neighboring countries and earn much-needed foreign exchange.
They also hoped that government would also create consensus for early construction of Kalabagh Dam that is a must to avoid hunger and drought in the country. They said that the Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry had already established Council on Kalabagh Dam which would have experts, technocrats and representatives of business community in its fold.
Sheikh Muhammad Arshad, Almas Haider and Nasir Saeed also urged the government to promote alternate energy resources to the maximum that would curtail the burden from conventional power generation system.
They said that biomass energy has the potential convert a wide variety of wastes into clean energy besides being substitution for diminishing global oil supplies.
