CM wants KP’s own transmission and grid company operationalised

PESHAWAR: Caretaker Chief Minister Muhammad Azam Khan on Wednesday directed the officials to take steps to operationalize the province’s own transmission and grid company.

“The appointment of the chief executive officer of the company be ensured as early as possible for the purpose,” he said while chairing the 17th board meeting of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Hydel Development Fund (HDF), said a handout.

Caretaker Provincial Minister for Finance, Ahmed Rasool Bangash, Advisor to CM on Energy and Power, Dr. Sarfaraz Ali Shah, Chief Secretary Nadeem Aslam Chaudhry, Additional Chief Secretary Zubair Asghar Qureshi, administrative secretaries of the concerned departments and other board members attended the meeting.

Besides reviewing progress on the decisions of the last board meeting, the forum accorded conditional approval to the proposed funding for hydel development projects for the fiscal year 2023-24.

The chief minister termed the establishment of the provincial government’s own transmission and grid company as a good move to improve the power supply system in the province. He hoped its operationalization would substantially reduce the province’s dependence on WAPDA infrastructure.

Azam Khan ordered steps to immediately make the newly completed hydropower projects functional, and added that a feasible strategy in consultation with all the relevant stakeholders be devised for the purpose.