LAHORE: Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has said that the PML-N government is striving hard to curb the energy crisis in the country as work is being carried out expeditiously on power projects.
The chief minister said this while talking to a delegation of assembly members and office-bearers of Pakistan Muslim League-N. He said the government was making serious efforts for coping with energy crisis and besides traditional methods of power generation due tension was also been paid to production of electricity through alternative sources.
He said that the policy of giving incentives to local and foreign investors in energy sectors had increased investment opportunities in this sector.
Shahbaz said sincere efforts were being made for overcoming energy crisis and removing darkness from the country as elimination of shortage of electricity was essential for rapid industrialisation, promotion of trade and business activities and development of agriculture sector.
He said that PML-N government was making speedy progress in this direction and work was being carried out on a number of small hydel, coal, solar and gas-based power projects in the province for increasing electricity production. Work is in progress round-the-clock on a 1320 megawatts coal-based energy project in Sahiwal and power production from this project will start during 2017, he added.
Shahbaz Sharif said powerhouses based on gas were also being established in Punjab and a 1200 MW gas-based powerhouse was being set up by Punjab government with its own resources while federal government will establish two powerhouses of 1200 MW each.
The Chief Minister said that every moment of the nation was precious and work was being carried out on energy projects without wasting any time. He said that a number of energy projects will be completed till the end of 2017 and their production will be added to the national grid due to which energy crisis will be resolved to a large extent. He said that overcoming of power shortage was the mission and agenda of PML-N government and no effort is being spared in this regard.
