THARPARKAR: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Monday inaugurated the third phase of the Thar Coal Block II project, an expansion that Sindh officials say will lift the mine's output by nearly half and bring more of the country's electricity generation onto domestic coal.
Bilawal and Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah arrived in Tharparkar for the ceremony, according to the chief minister's spokesperson.
Murad said Phase III will add 3.6 million tons per year to the mine's capacity, raising it from 7.6 million to 11.2 million tons annually. He said the project is being completed entirely with the company's own financing.
With the expansion, Lucky Electric's 660-megawatt power plant will run on Thar coal, and Thar's total generating capacity will reach 1,980 megawatts, Murad said. He said the added output will supply electricity to 4.5 million households daily.
Murad said the cost of electricity at the mine mouth will fall to $3.75 per million British thermal units after Phase III. Power from Sindh's local coal will be three times cheaper than power from imported coal, he said.
The chief minister said the phase will save about 15 billion rupees a year in power generation costs and about $220 million annually in foreign exchange. He said the Thar project has already saved more than $1.7 billion in foreign exchange.
Murad said Phase III will pave the way for the launch of Thar Rail, which he said would make the coal accessible across the country. He also said independent power producers are shifting from imported coal to Thar's coal.
Future plans
Murad said a project to produce urea from Thar coal is under consideration, which would replace natural gas as the raw material. He also cited a plan to produce syngas for industry and fuel through gasification of the coal.
Using local coal, he said, will reduce Pakistan's dependence on imported fuel and strengthen national energy security.
Government role and history
Murad described Thar as a prime example of public-private partnership in Pakistan's mining sector. He said the Sindh government introduced a private partnership framework for mining in Thar in 2008, allocated the mining leases and built the area's infrastructure, including roads, an airport, water supply and power transmission.
Thar's coal reserves, estimated at 175 billion tons, were discovered in the 1990s, he said. The foundation stone of the first coal-fired power plant there was laid in 1996. Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company was established in 2009 as a partnership between the Sindh government and Engro, and the federal government provided a sovereign guarantee for the project in 2013, Murad said. He said Block II was among the projects that delivered early benefits of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.
The chief minister credited the vision of Benazir Bhutto, the late former prime minister and Bilawal's mother, who he said described Thar's coal as the answer to Pakistan's energy crisis and stressed education and employment for the region's women.
Local employment and services
In a briefing for Bilawal, Murad said 60% of the project's employees are from Thar and 94% of the workforce, including service providers, is from Sindh. More than 2,000 people in Thar have been trained in technical skills such as welding and solar installation, he said. He added that 36 engineering graduates of Mehran University have joined the project over the past three years and seven local youths have been supported through a scholarship program at IBA Sukkur.
On health, Murad said seven facilities, including mobile units, have been set up in Thar, providing free medical services worth about 15 million rupees monthly. More than 500,000 patients have received free treatment, he said, and a 50-bed mother and child facility has been established in Islamkot. He said Tharparkar also received a Presidential Award for its COVID-19 management.
Murad said 33 reverse-osmosis plants in Thar supply about 12 million liters of clean water a month to more than 34,000 people. Women operate 15 of the plants, he said.
He said nearly 100% solar power has been provided to 3,150 households in 15 villages, and 265 street lights have been installed. About 1.2 million trees have been planted, and 165 acres have been transformed through biosaline agriculture, he said. Murad also said Pakistan's first flora conservation station has been established in Thar.
