Dawn News/02-01-2020

KARACHI: The financial close of the 1,320 megawatts (MW) power plant in Block-I, expansion of Block-II for installation of another 660MW power plant are milestones in development of Thar coal towards achieving energy self sufficiency for the country, said Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah. Speaking at the Conference on Public Announcement Financial Close of two Mines on Wednesday, he said that with the financial close, $1.301 billion would be invested in Thar for generation of 1,980MW electricity and development of two coalmines with production of 10.6 million tones per annum (mtpa). It may be noted that Sino Sindh Resources limited, a Chinese company, has achieved a financial close of $1.06bn for development of 7.8mtpa coal mine in Block-I of Thar coalfields. The mine will supply coal to 1,320MW coal-fired power plant and fetch $2bn in foreign direct investment