KARACHI: The Thar fields have attracted attention from the country’s arch-rival as several independent power producers in neighboring India have shown their keen interest in buying coal from the newly discovered world’s seventh largest reserves in Sindh, official sources said. “Top management of several Indian independent power producers has formally expressed their keenness to procure Thar coal, which is technically feasible for utilizing in some of their existing plants and also ready to set up new plants,” a source in provincial Sindh government said. “(They) have shown keen interest in its import from Pakistan mainly due to the proximity.” Coal-fired plants contribute over 65 per cent in power generation in India and high demand of this primary fuel is increasing day by day. Despite having domestic coal reserves, Indian imports of coal have seen tremendous increase in last ten years, ranking neighboring country among top three importers. Ahmadabad, the capital city of Gujarat is closer to Thar coal reserves. There are scores of medium to ultra-mega coal-fired power plants operational in Gujarat state that supplies power to large swath of their country up to Punjab state in addition to other such plants in pipeline. Being a leading miner and user of coal in the world, Indian energy entities conveyed their readiness to mine and import coal from Thar field. Thought Indian companies are not yet allowed to mine in the Thar but options are still open for exporting coal from Pakistan. Insiders said strained relation between two countries has been one of the main hurdles in establishing trade ties in the field of energy. Sources said a series of meetings in this connection were also held during visit of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to India in May 2014, while parleys held with federal ministries and management of mining companies currently working at Thar coal. “Representatives of these companies also showed willingness to visit Thar coal, however, this visit is yet to be given green signal by Pakistan authorities,” a source said. Referring to scale of coal mining and prospects of its future uses, Chaudhary Abdul Qayyum, CEO Sino Sindh Resources Ltd said coal production from Thar is planned to reach about 10 million tons per annum (mtpa) in three years and 25-30 mtpa in as little as five years, which will be sufficient to meet requirements of both mine-mouth power plants in Block-I and Block-II and other planned power projects in Karachi and Hyderabad. “In the post-2020 period or next five to seven years, we are expecting doubling of coal production from 25-30 mtpa to 50-60 mtpa. Half of this annually produced coal, having approximate export value of one billion dollar, could be offered for export markets including India,” he said while talking to a select group of Lahore-based journalists about promising development of Thar coal. Qayyum said as drying process for Thar coal is developed with initiation of large-scale mining to make it more economical for transportation, Pakistan will be able to push huge quantities of coal for export market. He said transportation of coal can be made possible via sea and land route, including rail and road links through necessary infrastructure and specific technology of coal handling. Sino Sindh is currently in process of launching mining at Block-I while a joint venture of Sindh government and Engro Corporation has been allotted lease of Block-II or Thar coalfield and initial phase of mining has been started. Agha Abbas Shah, Secretary Sindh Energy was also fascinated by the glittering prospects being offered by black gold discovered in Thar Desert.” Thar field provides abundant domestic source of coal which is vital for ensuring energy security of the country,” he said and adding it will also bring prosperity keeping in view enormous export potential of coal to world markets. “Obviously, we will look towards export market of coal after meeting our power generation needs in next few years,” Shah said, while adding that low Thar coal price makes it possible to open up export market while competing with other coal producers in the world. Talking about the possibility of coal exports to India, Shah said, decision in this respect will be reached while taking into account geopolitical situation and strategic issues associated with it. He said Sindh government is developing the Thar coalfield as an emerging hub of petrochemicals. “As we kick start work on mining and power projects at Thar coalfield, which is now part of the Pakistan-China Economic Corridor, the entire energy scenario is going to change in next few years.” “Naturally, we have to find markets for future coal selling as there is a limit to its use for electricity generation,” Abbas said.
