ISLAMABAD/New Delhi, June 14: Against the backdrop of an energy crisis that has triggered protests in parts of Punjab, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif today ordered officials to examine the possibility of immediate import of electricity from neighbouring countries.
Sharif directed authorities “to examine the possibility of importing energy from neighbouring countries to improve the situation on immediate basis”, said a statement issued after the premier chaired a high level meeting on the energy situation.
Though the statement did not specify the countries that could possibly supply energy, sources told reporters that Sharif had personally asked Indian High Commissioner Sharat Sabharwal to expedite a visit by Indian energy experts to Pakistan.
Following Sharif’s request, a team of Indian experts visited Islamabad and Lahore earlier this week to discuss the export of gas and electricity.
On Tuesday, Power Minister Khwaja Muhammad Asif chaired a meeting with a five-member Indian delegation led by a Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Power and discussed several proposals, including the setting up of a transmission line to export 500 mw of electricity.
The Indian delegation held discussions with representatives of the National Transmission And Despatch Company Limited in Lahore before travelling to Islamabad.
The Indian experts also met Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, the younger brother of the premier and a member of a federal Cabinet Committee on Energy.
Shahbaz Sharif said Pakistani authorities will take practical steps to seek India’s cooperation to control power outages.
During the meeting chaired by the premier today, authorities took stock of the overall energy situation and examined ways to improve it.
“It was decided in principle to take tangible measures both at increasing generation through energy mix and exploring alternate resources. The meeting also underlined the need to reduce theft, rationalise tariff and minimise line losses,” the official statement said.
Experts told the meeting about the strategy and timelines for reducing load shedding.
The meeting was also informed that a new comprehensive energy policy, which includes short-term, medium-term and long-term energy plan, will be ready by the end of this month after consultation with all stakeholders.
Authorities said a comprehensive strategy for recovery of dues from defaulters had been devised. It was decided that the Prime Minister would review the energy situation every week.
Facing severe energy shortages, Pakistan has sought as much as 500 mv 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.
Meanwhile, Pakistan High Commissioner Salman Bashir today met Minister for Commerce and Industry Anand Sharma in New Delhi and discussed economic and trade relations between the two countries.
“Mr Bashir had useful exchange of views on a broad range of subjects pertaining to economic and trade cooperation between Pakistan and India,” the Pakistan High Commission said.
Earlier yesterday, official sources said India wanted to resume talks on commercial and trade cooperation as a new Government was elected in Pakistan.
The sources had also informed that India was looking forward to Pakistan to implement its decision to give New Delhi a ‘Most Favoured Nation’ status.
The Pakistan High Commissioner had yesterday hosted a joint delegation of FICCI and SAARC Chambers. (Agencies)
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