'Bankrupt' Pakistan grid adds to Imran Khan's economic liabilities

Pakistan has added half of its power generating capacity in the past five years with Chinese help but a weak distribution network means companies and households are still bereft of electricity

In Pakistan’s Tharpakar desert, Chinese and Pakistani workers toil in the blistering heat to complete the construction of a massive open pit coal mine and an adjacent 660 megawatt power plant four months before schedule. The roadblocks will come soon after.
 
When Engro Corp., one of Pakistan’s largest conglomerates, which is partnering with China, begins generating electricity from the plant in December it will hit a distribution and transmission network that is essentially “bankrupt,” according to Shamsuddin Shaikh, the chief executive officer of Engro’s energy arm.
 
“The system has already collapsed, really the system is just existing because