LAHORE: Chief Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif Thursday said that water resources were being developed for agri prosperity in the province besides addressing problem of loadshedding.
He said that work was being carried out speedily on energy projects so that maximum land could be brought under cultivation for increasing per acre yield and meeting power needs of farmers.
According to a handout, he expressed these views during a meeting of Federal Minister for Water and Power Kh. Muhammad Asif, Chairman WAPDA and other senior officials at Ministry of Water and Power in Islamabad.The Chief Minister said that besides construction of water reservoirs, projects of generating energy were being completed speedily in the province.
He said that with the completion of these projects, electricity production would increase substantially within next two years and farmers would not face any difficulty regarding water and power.
Shehbaz Sharif said that sincere and serious steps taken during three years for overcoming energy crisis were unprecedented and energy projects were being executed speedily throughout the country including Punjab.
He said that under China Pakistan Economic Corridor, 36 billion dollars were for energy sector projects and work was being carried out round the clock on various projects under the CPEC. Coal, solar, wind and hydel power projects were being set up throughout the country under China Pakistan Economic Corridor besides establishment of communication, transport and infrastructure projects, he added.
The Chief Minister said that speedy implementation of projects after signing of agreements under CPEC was unprecedented. He said that 1320 Megawatt Sahiwal Coal Power Project would start production of electricity in the middle of next year. Similarly, gas based power projects of 3600 megawatt electricity were being speedily forwarded in the province, he added.
Shehbaz Sharif said that under CPEC, Chinese investment of 36 billion dollars in energy projects would result in resolving the problem of shortage of electricity. He said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, the projects were being executed in a transparent manner. He said that with the completion of electricity projects, load shedding would be eliminated and cheap electricity would be available. He said that completion of energy projects would result in adding thousands of megawatt more electricity into the national grid by the end of next year.
Federal Minister for Water and Power, Kh Muhammad Asif appreciated development projects and ongoing mega projects of provincial government for overcoming energy crisis. He said that industrial and agriculture sector needs would be fulfilled by increasing national production of electricity with mutual cooperation. The meeting also discussed pace of energy projects.
