NEW DELHI, June 14: Facing severe energy shortages, Pakistan has sought as much as 500 MW of electricity from India by laying a transmission line from Punjab into Lahore.
New Delhi is willing to help and is exploring the points which can be used to hook-up to the grid in Pakistan through a high-voltage direct current (HVDC) line, government sources said.
The proposal to buy power was made when an expert group visited Pakistan this week to discuss energy cooperation.
Sources said the transmission line may not take very long to build and power could start flowing in matter of months.
However, details and modalities of the purchase and the techno-commercial as well as sovereign arrangements that would be needed are still to be worked out.
The power-starved nation is ready to explore all options for sourcing power from India.
The sources said, they (Pakistan) will have to buy power from India. It could be from any source either a private or a public sector power generation plant.
Pakistan wants 500 MW power from India but will have to put in place a transmission network which will facilitate transfer of electricity. At the same time India on its part will have to construct a transmission network.
The sources added that the two nations have to first develop transmission lines for evacuation of electricity. However, they did not specify the timeline for the completion of the transmission network.
The talks between the two nations are still on and they are yet to reach at an agreement.
A Power Ministry delegation led by Joint Secretary Rita Acharya visited Pakistan, earlier this week, and discussed the broad contours of the proposed arrangement.
According to reports, Pakistan, which is reeling under electricity stress, plans to import 1,000 MW of power from India alone.
India which has installed capacity of over 2,11,000 MW plans to add another 88,000 MW electricity by March, 2017. (PTI)
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