Sindh govt to give land for Thar coal railway project

KARACHI: The Sindh government will provide land for the upcoming Thar coal railway connectivity project as its equity contribution, a high-level official from the Sindh Coal Energy Board revealed on Saturday.

The official stated that the required land, located in uninhabited areas, is already owned by the Sindh government and poses no acquisition challenges. The total project cost is estimated at Rs58 billion, with the federal and Sindh governments sharing the expense equally.

While the land is being contributed as part of Sindh’s equity, the government will still need to arrange additional funds to meet its total equity share. The land’s estimated value is around Rs1.5 billion.

The project was approved at the 10th SIFC apex committee meeting in May, with the decision to form a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to oversee its implementation.

The Ministry of Railways and the Sindh government will jointly undertake the construction of a 105-kilometre railway line from the Thar Coalfield to Chorr and a 9-kilometre line from Bin Qasim to Port Qasim.

The project is allocated Rs15.1 billion in the federal Public Sector Development Program (PSDP) for the fiscal year 2024-25, with an initial release of Rs4.6 billion to the contractor, FWO.

The Sindh government has also earmarked funds for the project in its provincial annual development programme.

However, an additional Rs9.6 billion is required to match the federal allocation.

Once completed, the railway network is expected to transport 10 million tonnes of coal per year, reducing Pakistan’s reliance on imported coal for power generation. Analysts predict annual savings of $1.5 billion on fuel imports.

This project is a crucial step in the government’s plan to transition coal-based power plants to Thar coal.

The challenge of transporting coal from the remote Thar region to the rest of the country has necessitated this railway infrastructure development.