ISLAMABAD: The delay in power generation from Nandipur project has been causing Rs 315 billion losses to national exchequer, including a Rs 298 billion financial cost of load-shedding.
Sources said that the Project faced a loss of Rs 5 billion for keeping for a long duration of time the machinery and equipment of power plants at the Port Qasim where it lost its efficiency considerably.
Nandipur Project Managing Director Mohammad Mehmood has briefed National Assembly”s Standing Committee on Planning, Development and Reforms on the progress made in the installation of Nandipur Power Project. The Committee met under the chairmanship of Abdul Majeed Khan Khanan Khail at Parliament House on Thursday. Rejecting media reports about the total cost of Rs 84 billion, the MD of the project said that the total approved cost of revised PC-1 of Nandipur Power Project was Rs 58 billion. He said the cost of the Project was increased due to a delay in the project execution and an increase in the value of dollar form Rs 63 to Rs 102 during that period.
The MD said that the Project would be completed in January 2015. Answering a question, he said that at present the power plant is not working. However, he said it was made functional in Ramazan during Sehr and Iftar. He said that power plant would be run on electricity demand. Answering another question, he said the production cost of 425-megawatt power project during Ramazan using furnace oil as fuel was Rs 36 per unit. He said the Prime Minister has directed for a special audit of the Project.
Mehmood said the plant will function on natural gas and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) in the long run. He said the efficiency of the power plant is more based on gas as compared to furnace oil. Dr Nafisa Shah of Pakistan People”s Party (PPP) expressed her serious concerns over the loss of Rs 315 billion on the project and severely criticised the MD Project. She said there is a need of a proper investigation into the matter. Nafisa Shah was the only person who raised serious questions on the project during the briefing of the MD while the Chairman of the Committee and other members of PML-N appreciated him on his briefing.
An official of the Ministry of Water and Power said that there is a need to enhance PSDP allocations for 2014-15 from Rs 500 million to Rs 3.2 billion for completion of development projects. Chairman WAPDA Zafar Mehmood told the Committee that the cost of electricity is Rs 2.5 per unit in case of hydel power projects. He said the capacity of Mangala Dam is 6000 MW. He said that the country has sufficient water reserves for irrigation purposes. Dr Nafisa Shah said the government should pay attention to the hydro-power projects for cheap production of electricity instead of costly thermal power production.
