Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has said that his province possesses huge resources in the shape of Thar coal for power generation to help meet the electricity requirement of Pakistan in the times ahead.
In an interview with China Radio International (CRI) Urdu Service during his visit to Beijing, he said Sindh’s capital Karachi was the economic and commercial hub of Pakistan which had two ports -- the Karachi Port Trust (KPT) and Port Qasim.
The metropolis also generated almost 70 percent of the country’s revenue, he added.
The chief minister returned to the city on Saturday after a three-dayvisit to China during which he also attended the annual Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) meeting of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) held in Beijing on December 29.
Shah said that under the CPEC there were energy generation projects in the Sindh province as it had huge resources in the shape of Thar coal, besides those for the wind and solar power.
He said a mining project from indigenous resources was already underway as a part of the CPEC for producing energy in the Thar area.
The financial close of another energy project under the CPEC was also expected in the year 2017, he added.
The chief minister said the CPEC would immensely benefit not only Sindh but also both the countries, Pakistan and China.
He said it would also help develop the backward area of Thar that mainly consisted of desert.
He said Thar possessed some 180 billion tons coal reserves and their exploitation had required huge money as well as international technical expertise.