Sharif declines proposal to abandon 1,200MW LNG plant

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has declined a proposal to set aside a planned 1,200-megawatt LNG-based power plant in Muzaffargarh, Punjab as it is likely to get completed after the end of his tenure.

The Express Tribune quoted a senior official of the Ministry of Water and Power, as saying that the Prime Minister was informed about the progress on the bidding process of the power plant during a high-level meeting.

The project processing framework and request for proposals has already been approved by the Private Power and Infrastructure Board on October 28 last year.

The project has also been granted one-off exemption from the boards on its earlier decision that no new imported fuel-based power plants would be approved.

The power ministry official informed the high-level meeting that some issues were raised by the prospective bidders regarding the bid submission deadline, the time frame for open-cycle operation, the commissioning date and deadlines for key project activities.

Sharif was also informed by the officials that the project had not been included in the power generation projection of the Ministry of Water and Power.

The Prime Minister directed the water and power ministry to go ahead with the project and said that the electricity produced by the plant would be added to the national grid which would contribute to the economic and industrial growth of the country.